Articles by Laasya Shekhar

It has been a year since the launch of a bio-CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) plant in Chetpet by Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) in partnership with Srinivas Waste Management Solutions Pvt Ltd. Around 100 tons of vegetable and food waste from Koyambedu market and hotels are processed every day and converted into bio-CNG. This renewable source of energy is sold to the Gas Authority Of India Limited (GAIL) and various hotels whose reliance on conventional energy has drastically reduced as a result.  A similar plant at Madhavaram was inaugurated about six months ago but is yet to be functional as it…

The Chennai Climate Action Plan (CCAP) is a document prepared and released by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) with the support of C40 and Urban Management Centre and aligned to C40’s Climate Action Planning framework. CCAP has some alarming findings that should make Chennaiites sit up and take notice.  According to the document, 100m of the coast is at risk of submersion as a result of a likely rise in sea levels by as much as 7cm in the next five years. North Chennai Thermal Power Plants are going to be impacted as well, which will require replacement by 2050,…

Chennai’s potential in terms of harnessing rooftop solar energy is widely spoken about. The city has a rooftop solar potential of 1.38 GW, according to an April 2018 study by Greenpeace India. The domestic or residential segment by itself can account for a capacity of about 586.46MW which is 42.6% of the city’s solar energy potential.  While the picture seems promising on paper, Chennai is nowhere close to making use of the potential of rooftop solar energy in the residential segment for various reasons. In part 1 of the series, we brought to light how realtors in Chennai are flouting…

On 8th July 2021, a Chennai-based construction and real estate firm obtained the completion certificate from the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) for its newly-constructed residential building, located in Valmiki Street of East Tambaram. The building consists of a stilt floor plus five floors and houses 15 dwelling units. Along with amenities such as rainwater harvesting structures and fire licences, the building had also declared a functional rooftop solar installation in order to obtain the completion certificate, which is a prerequisite for all builders to obtain water, sewer and power connections.  As per the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building…

In her 158 sq ft home in Semmencherry Housing Board, 12-year-old S Kumudha* chops vegetables, while her elder brother is busy writing an assignment. Kumudha will later make a quick lunch and clean the house; her brother will attend an online class. Both their parents are daily wage labourers, who are out at work from morning to dusk. Kumudha takes the load off her mother by doing the domestic chores. Her mind, once intrigued by the concepts of geometry and the Indian Constitution, is now entirely engrossed with south Indian cuisine.  It wasn't always like this, though. Kumudha and her…

Did you know that at least a hundred litres of water are used up in construction of one square foot of built-up area? In a growing city like Chennai, where you find some construction or the other going on whichever way you look, think of what that means for groundwater resources, which currently constitute the primary source of water supply for the requirements of this water-intensive industry.  In a city that is constantly under the shadow of a looming water scarcity, finding alternative, eco-friendly ways to reduce the burden on groundwater tables has never been more important. And that is what…

Muthulakshmi S, a resident of Kattukuppam village in the Ennore Industrial Cluster spends a good share of her family income on doctors' fees and medicines. “My kids suffer from severe cold and cough infections every two months. The doctor says that it is common among those living here,” says 27-year-old Muthulakshmi, whose kids are seven and three-and-a-half years old.  Her husband is a fisherman who brings home a few hundred rupees on some days, but nothing on many others. Muthulakshmi is not alone, however. Her trials and tribulations reflect those of many women in Ennore, and much of that can…

Last year, BESCOM, Bengaluru’s electricity supply company, had called for applications from consumers to set up rooftop solar panels. BESCOM also launched a first-in-the-country project called CREST, a tool that enables consumers to evaluate their rooftop’s potential for solar energy production.  These ambitious initiatives saw BESCOM receiving around 1200 applications for rooftop solar installations since March 2020, according to a trusted department source. But 250 consumers later withdrew their applications, according to S S Raghunandan, President, Karnataka Renewable Energy Association (KREA).  Let’s crunch some numbers. Bengaluru has an actual realisable potential of 2.8 GW of solar energy. But the city that…

Uyali* was among the 220 garment workers fired by Slam Clothing Private Limited in January 2020. Two months later, the textile manufacturer situated at Mahindra World City in the outskirts of Chennai shut down operations, citing ‘irrecoverable losses due to the COVID-triggered lockdown.’ More than half of the workers haven’t received their dues from the Provident Fund (PF) yet. Like hundreds of her colleagues, Uyali is still waiting. “My salary of two months remains unpaid to this day. I had to hunt for a job in the middle of a pandemic when I did not even have the money to…

As the third COVID wave appears imminent in the country, robust communication strategies by government agencies become increasingly important. Public health messaging — in both form and content — is an extremely critical component of the response to a pandemic. Access to information about COVID guidelines, vaccination centres and helpline numbers posed a challenge during the first and second waves for a large section of the population, especially the digitally illiterate, marginalised and senior citizens. The avenues of information in the form of trusted media sources and bulletins from government websites seem to be unreachable for these categories. “Only a…