High-speed derailment

Supreme Court asks Jaipur metro authorities to approach environment ministry for mining sand

The Supreme Court has asked the Jaipur Metro Development Authority to take permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) if it wants to mine sand for its metro rail project.

Letters

Set the record straight

Metro Flash Mob: "Please Mend the Gap"

On March 29, 2011, Dharini Bhaskar was harassed and assaulted while taking the yellow metro line in New Delhi. And although she filed a police report and informed the metro officials of the incident, the alleged assailant got away scott-free. As a form of protest, Dharini and friends decided to stage a flash mob to emphasize the gender gap prevalent in public spaces.

‘No room left for the car’

What are your observations about Indian cities? I come from a school of thought that likes cities, and I find an Indian street fascinating. There are so many different users: bullock carts, food vendors, beggars, cyclists and cars. I can see how cars are a necessary part of city life but they must not dominate it. If you allow cars all the time, the city becomes dysfunctional very quickly. And my sense is that Indian streets have reached optimum car use. There is no room left for the car. Every ordinary Indian can see that we need new solutions. But every traffic engineer is still trying to put in the flyovers that speed up traffic on one side even if everything grinds to a halt again on the other side. Interviewee:  Peter Newman

Tram to oblivion

It was quarter to nine on a cold December evening at the Kalighat tram depot in south Kolkata. A row of tramcars stood like ghosts under an iron shed. At the corner of one coach an elderly man clad in khakis read the newspaper in the dim light of a 40 Watt bulb. A few people asked him about the next tram to Tollygunge and left in an instant when told they would have to wait for 30 minutes. Except for a frail 70-year-old who pottered around as buses, autorickshaws and cars breezed past, and a little boy who resisted attempts of his parents to drag him away.

The Last Car

A lazy afternoon at Galif street terminus. Read full story: Tram to oblivion Photographs and Captions by: Sayantan Bera

The Last Car

A tram halt in the middle of the road after dedicated tracks were uprooted. With passengers unable to board, revenues have dipped by half. Read full story: Tram to oblivion Photographs and Captions by: Sayantan Bera

The Last Car

An archival photographs from 1997. Till the early 1990s trams used to cater to an array of passengers. The first car at 4.40 in the morning was staple for those catching a train from the Howrah station; a little later the pious would crowd the tram for a bath in the holy Ganges. The school children escorted by doting mothers, the lawyers and babus roughing it out on crowded trams to reach the office-hub of Dalhousie square- trams were the lifeline before autos, metro and buses became the priority.

The Last Car

A tram moves through the narrow lanes of central Kolkata. Read full story: Tram to oblivion Photographs and Captions by: Sayantan Bera