Our Bright Cities Are Causing Light Pollution. Should We Be Worried?
58.5 percent population in India are exposed to light pollution. In absence of any law, what does the future hold? Published on 5 Oct 2021 5:59 PM on BoomLive For two years, Nilesh Desai fought against the use of intense and obtrusive floodlights at Wilson College Gymkhana Club on Marine Drive in Mumbai. He filed multiple complaints with the city administration. His house, he explains, was constantly enveloped in bright lights which remained functional till 4 am. The starry sky and fresh breeze from the sea were muted with thick curtains to …
How to deal with your errant RWA
By B T Srinivasan Things can go wrong any time if a RWA decided to play foul. It could prove detrimental to the peace and welfare of residents - a situation that is not so uncommon. So, what do the residents do? An example is available from the experience of residents of a particular a housing colony in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. Hassled for quite some years by the rampant commercialization of the hitherto peaceful locality in gross violation of municipal rules, appeals to the local RWA went unheeded. Interestingly, many these complainants, l…
Feelgood Waste! Hyderabad Start-up Makes a Virtue out of Raddi!
Nisar Ahmed (right) and Muquayyar Ahmed (left) Team TT When was the last time you felt good for generating waste? There are 3500 families in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad who feel really good every time they sell their kabaadi. And that is thanks to an innovative start-up in town that has made a virtue out of selling or rather buying scrap. For every kilo of waste that online kabaadi collection service, Crapbin gathers from customers, a part of the proceeds goes towards sponsoring the education of needy chil…
Tourism development and encroachment-free-footpaths must go hand-in-hand
Urban India needs to clear up its footpaths as bulk of tourists need EFF. Roads and pavements are like TWINS. Why don’t we treat them equally with subtle care and maintenance? By Professor B. R. Sant* Average tourist is like an average student I remember when I embarked upon my teaching career in 1951-1952 at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) at the grass-root level of first year of I.Sc. Most of the today’s management terminology then was unknown. We were still in the ‘black-board and chalk’ era. I was teaching 2 sections, one English with …
Legal Status of the RWAs in TS is At Stake
The Director General of Stamps and Registration in the Telangana state, based on a High Court judgement has recently advised the Apartment RWAs that they cannot remain registered under the Registration of Societies Act and that the society should be formed and function under the Cooperative Societies Acts. In view of this predicament, UFERWAS has solicited the expert view of Sri. G. Jagadeeswara Rao, FCA, DISA (ICAI) to enlighten the RWA managers about the situation and to recommend suitable action. - EDITOR By G. Jagadeeswara Rao RESIDENT WE…
Flyovers - are they Necessary?
World Environment Day “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation.” Gustavo Petro Surprising that one should find the above quote, that too from a Colombian politician and former guerrilla, in an Indian government publication. But all the same, nothing sums up better all that is wrong with our urban transportation. And going by it, I must confess, despite sincere efforts to upgrade and become rich, I have not been able to do so. But then neither is India a developed country ye…
The Key to Sustainable Urban Waste Management is Segregation and Home Composting
By Sujata C Among the five metros, Hyderabad enjoys the dubious reputation of being the highest generator of daily garbage. The twin-cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad generate 5000 metric tonnes of solid waste daily, according to a GHMC survey. Much higher than other cities like Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkota. This garbage is carried to the 300-acre Jawahar Nagar dump yard, a landfill located 60 kilometres from the city. Already bursting at the seams, with mounds of solid waste that is smouldering and rotting, the landfill has recently been ca…
Get ready for the Grey tsunami, warns new study on elderly care
Findings from a pilot study in three states by HelpAge India shows need for creating new structures within existing framework of government policy for elderly care giving. Suggests introducing concept of Vridh Sahayak at the sub-centre level Providing physiotherapists at the Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC), Creation of new State Level Geriatric Programme Manager role At 106 million people, the elderly form approximately 8-9% of the total population in India today making the country the second largest global population of elderly citi…
We want to walk. We are pedestrians. Please provide us encroachment-free-footpaths
Respectable way to check footpath encroachments in Hyderabad March 18, 2019 By Professor B. R. Sant* Encroachment-free-footpaths (EFF), is a part of beauty, culture, discipline, and tradition of any city in the world, more so the ones that are aspiring to become ‘global cities’. However, almost all footpaths (also called sidewalks, pavements) on the two sides of any road, big or small, in Hyderabad are “encroached”, causing extreme hardship to pedestrians to walk safely, comfortably, and with dignity. “Pavements” and “roads” are TWINS with cle…
Peoples’ engagement in infrastructure planning stressed
Survey points to why city residents should have a say in what their cities look like and better infrastructure execution TT News Network If expert opinion and the results of surveys carried out worldwide are anything to go by public engagement is the missing link in planning and executing public infrastructure in major cities globally. A recent survey of over 10,000 people in 10 global cities has shown that half or more respondents say there are interested but lack opportunities to provide feedback on infrastructure planning and decision-makin…
‘Pavement literacy’ a must for builders, owners, vaastu shastris
We must help planners, builders, architects, vastu shastris , vastu vidwans become “pavement-literate” to guide clients to leave footpaths encroachment free By Professor B. R. Sant* Vastu shastra Ancient Hindu architectural knowledge was a highly developed science more devoted to building of temples, but fairly advanced for dwellings too. Varahamira’s Brihat Samhita is perhaps the oldest Indian (Sanskrit) text that describes vastupurusamandala to plan cities and buildings including roads and pavements. Footpaths are for pedestrians Very m…
Human capital policy for India
By Karuna Gopal With the world faced with increasing human capital shortages, countries can get creative and engage just-retired in interesting ways and the formats from hiring them as part-time or full-time freelance skilled force to even setting up businesses suggests the author. CATCH THEM OLD’ was a campaign for recruiting retired yet resourceful people in the US almost a decade ago. Today, thanks to the 4th industrial revolution that disrupted labour markets substantially, what was then explorative became a decisive path for engaging seni…
When Community meets Gardening
Sujata C Community gardening is a growing trend across the world and urban food growing projects are cropping up everywhere in the US cities. The concept of community gardening took birth in the economic recession years of the 1890s which left many people unemployed and hungry. These ‘potato patches’ nurtured by the community were able to feed and provide work for a few. The concept of community gardening remained popular for nearly thirty years before losing steam. You might think where is the need for us to grow vegetables in India where th…
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