We ask and answer what makes cities resilient, so we can be better prepared for events and eventualities. Read, engage and support this work, as we share insightful reports on systemic issues, explainers and how-tos, and solutions. Our stories are deeply reported and enriched by citizen inputs.
Our team members in Bangalore, Chennai and elsewhere are well, and working round-the-clock to cover developments related to Covid-19 and well as the lockdown. Alongside, we continue to report on urban issues like water and livelihoods that continue to be important at this time, and even more than usual in some situations.
Our coverage of Covid-19 and the lockdown began with news reports on the crisis itself, and included explainers on the health aspects, and how-tos for navigating the many changing rules and regulations. After that immediate response, we have started to look at systemic issues compounding the problems emerging from the lockdown.
In addition, we are working with citizen reporters to document ground realities as this historical emergency event unfolds. We are also documenting learnings across cities – surveying relief efforts as well as public services like waste management and transport, in different cities to see what has worked where and why.
Do take a look at our reporting dashboard here: citizenmatters.in/covid-19.
Our small team has coped with the increase in workload as well as the limitations of traveling to cover news at this time, with cheer and perseverance. We have also done our best to support independent writers who contribute to Citizen Matters.
New challenges
However, it is clear that the pandemic has brought us stark challenges, primarily on the funding front. While the immediate humanitarian distress must and should receive the most resources, systemic breakdowns that lead to such large-scale crises must also receive attention if we are not to find ourselves in the same spot again, whether due to natural disasters or pandemics.
As an independent news organisation, we are focussed on examining exactly such weaknesses in how our cities function. The resilience of our cities clearly needs urgent re-evaluation, at all scales — from the family, to the neighbourhood, to the metropolis as a whole and the greater urban agglomeration as one of many hubs of the country.
Our work has a key role to play in this. We need your support to enable and strengthen it.
Click here to donate today.
Warm Regards
Meera K, Meenakshi Ramesh