Thirsty Throats at Rajendra Nagar : Report by Azmia Riaz

From around a month and a half back,I had been speaking to Azmia and we were on a constant lookout to write about intricate problems of the economically downtrodden in the federal accommodation of states we live in.We had managed to connect on IOPS despite its lack of Indian members (basically this applies for most third world countries since the awareness levels are glaringly low,which contributes to bad HDI ranks subsequently).

Since she is studying at IIJNM Bangalore and since I have been on an interactive spree for quite a while - solving queries of students,interviewing,talking to particular individuals for the Kashmir cause (some very interestingly daring posts are to be up on the blog soon),receiving guest articles etc,we were on a lookout for a cause we could observe and analyse rather than doing that in an unordered manner.


All through this time,a few more innocent lives were claimed in Kashmir,a riot took place in Bangalore,a child labour from the minority community was shot by a member of the Sangh Parivar.The ongoing riot in Bangalore blocked Azmia in her hostel and that was when we talked about information deception and mass fooling (talking politics when stuck in a riot-some city is tougher than you can imagine).It took her a few more days to come up with this article and I personally know the problems she faced throughout the journey - after all,the authority is not your best buddy offering you Margaritas ad cocktail on a summer holiday.

The article is about water shortage conditions and its dreary effects in quite a large slum situated in Adugodi,Bangalore.

An excerpt to the article has been provided below.Do click here (or at the end of the post) to read the complete article at The Weekly Observer.



KORAMANGALA - Rajendra Nagar is a colony where small houses stand lined up beside a canal that is overflowing with waste. The streets are crowded with screaming children and meandering cows. Children skip over mounds of cow dung and play frantically beneath strings that hang above them, bending under the weight of a dozen wet clothes.

The air is heavy with the pungent smell from the canal that residents have already gotten used to. They point to half empty water tanks outside each of their houses. 
There has been no water for more than two days.
Dry spells are not new to Rajendra Nagar residents. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) have introduced different services to various categories of slums. According to the agency’s website, its Social Development Unit “assumed the responsibility of reducing slum dwellers reliance on public taps by offering them the options of either individual or shared connections....In many slums people had also connected illegally to the system and had been enjoying free water.


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