6 neighbours have shared what matters to them — in their own words.
“School teacher (govt) "My west-facing room becomes unbearable by afternoon and we also deal with load shedding which cuts off the fan and AC exactly when you need them most. The load shedding issue is what I want to raise with our local representative. During a heatwave, power cuts are not just an inconvenience — they are a health risk, especially for children and the elderly. My message would be — please take up with CESC the issue of scheduled and unscheduled outages in residential areas during summer peak hours. If load management is necessary, it should happen during off-peak times, not between two and six in the afternoon when temperatures are at their highest. We pay our electricity bills. We deserve reliable power when it matters most."”
“School teacher (govt) "My west-facing room becomes unbearable by afternoon and we also deal with load shedding which cuts off the fan and AC exactly when you need them most. The load shedding issue is what I want to raise with our local representative. During a heatwave, power cuts are not just an inconvenience — they are a health risk, especially for children and the elderly. My message would be — please take up with CESC the issue of scheduled and unscheduled outages in residential areas during summer peak hours. If load management is necessary, it should happen during off-peak times, not between two and six in the afternoon when temperatures are at their highest. We pay our electricity bills. We deserve reliable power when it matters most."”
In your area, citizens are expressing significant concerns regarding escalating energy costs, particularly for LPG cylinders, and related issues such as delayed deliveries and gaps in subsidy coverage for urban working-class families. Compounding these problems are the severe impacts of recent heatwaves, leading to unreliable power supply during peak hours and health risks for vulnerable residents, especially the elderly. There are also notable issues concerning the agricultural sector, specifically the inconsistent quality of seasonal produce like mangoes due to climate change, and unfair pricing driven by middlemen. Fortunately, citizens have put forward constructive ideas for action. Many are calling for community-level interventions like organizing awareness camps 💡 for LPG consumers and establishing neighborhood cool shelters to protect the elderly during extreme heat. Furthermore, there's a strong desire for direct farmer markets 🥭 to ensure fair prices for both producers and consumers, alongside advocacy for state-level agricultural support to help farmers adapt to changing weather patterns 🛣️. These suggestions highlight a proactive approach to addressing pressing local challenges.
“Elderly neighbors, children work in other cities. "In Kolkata we mostly get Himsagar and Langra, and this season the quality has been inconsistent — smaller fruit, some batches not as sweet as usual. But what bothers me more is the middleman problem. The vendor tells me prices are high, yet I read that farmers in Murshidabad are not getting fair rates. The consumer pays more and the farmer earns less — someone in between is profiting. I would like to tell our local councillor that the municipality should organise seasonal farmer markets, directly connecting mango growers from the district to buyers in Dum Dum. It would bring prices down for us and give farmers a fairer income. This is not a new idea but nobody has acted on it seriously. If the councillor can push for even a weekly market during the mango season it would make a real difference to many households."”
“Brother (conducted online) "I have noticed my mother becoming more careful about gas usage — reheating food in the microwave, using the pressure cooker more, keeping the flame low. The price burden is real even if we haven't faced outright shortage. But what concerns me more is the long-term picture — if the West Asia conflict continues, fuel prices will keep rising and lower-income households will be hit hardest. My message to our local elected representative is this — please push for faster expansion of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana subsidy coverage in urban areas like Dum Dum, where many working-class families fall just outside the eligibility criteria and receive no relief despite struggling with the same price hikes. Urban energy poverty is real and it deserves the same policy attention that rural energy access gets."”
“Retired IPS officer ( lives in my community)"The LPG cylinder is taking longer to arrive after booking and the price has gone up significantly over the past two years. For a retired household on a fixed income, this is a real burden. The issue is that there is very little transparency — we don't know why prices keep rising or when they will stabilise. My message to our local councillor is simple — please organise a ward-level awareness camp where residents can learn about the Ujjwala scheme, subsidy entitlements, and how to properly register complaints about delayed deliveries. Many elderly residents, especially women, are not aware of their rights as LPG consumers. A single afternoon event at the local community hall could help many families. This is a small ask but it would make a genuine difference."”
“Nearby lady tailor (senior citizen)This summer has been the worst I can remember in thirty years of living in Dum Dum. The afternoons are unbearable and nights offer no relief either. The real issue for people my age is that heat stress can be medically dangerous and most elderly people living alone have nobody checking on them during a heatwave. I want to leave a message for our ward councilor to set up a simple neighborhood heat relief system. Even something as basic as designating one community room in the local club or library as a cool shelter during peak afternoon hours, with a fan or AC, would help elderly and low-income residents who have no cooling at home. Other cities have done this. Dum Dum ward can do it too. It does not require much money, only some will and organization.”
“My cousin- college student"The mango quality this year has been uneven ", some batches of Himsagar were excellent and others were disappointing. But the issue I keep thinking about is how climate change is quietly affecting the mango season itself. The season feels shorter, the yields are inconsistent, and farmers are bearing the uncertainty. My message to our local elected representative would be this ", please advocate at the state level for agricultural support programs that help small mango farmers in Bengal adapt to changing weather patterns. Subsidised irrigation, crop insurance, better weather advisory systems ", these are things that require policy attention. We enjoy mangoes every summer without thinking about the farmer who grew them. It is time our representatives started thinking about that too."”
