Articles by News Desk

Stalled BBMP works to resume Civic stalled works in the city will be resumed, according to the directives by the Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D K Shivakumar. Broken roads will be repaired while stalled projects, including overflowing rajakaluves, will be fixed. The incomplete works were paused four months ago, due to a pending inquiry by a government-constituted team of IAS officers. Partial payments to contractors and up to 75% of the bills are being cleared, but the special investigation team (SIT) will continue with its investigation. The previous government had sanctioned 353 works costing over Rs 5,000 crore.…

Suggestions sought from survey of North Chennai The Rs 1000 crore Vada Chennai Valarchi Thittam will see development of various key infrastructure in North Chennai. Neglected areas in the region will soon get model school, sports facilities, amenities such as walking paths and cycling tracks and sprucing up of existing public spaces such as parks and playfields.  The project will be carried out by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), Tamil Nadu Urban Habitate Development Board (TNUHDB) and Department of Town and Country Planning. Read estate firm CBRE has been roped in to conduct surveys…

37599 idols immersed on the last day of immersion As Mumbaikars bid goodbye to Bappa, a total of 37,599 idols were immersed on Anant Chaturthi. Out of which 31,322 were household ones and 5840 were sarvajanik idols. Out of these, 734 sarvajanik and 10,121 household idols were immersed in artificial ponds. The most famous Lalbaugcha Raja was immersed on Friday morning around 8.30 am. The procession started at 11 am on Thursday. The civic body spread awareness about the artificial pond immersion of Ganpati Idols. The BMC provided the citizens with artificial ponds. Pic: BMC Twitter To maintain the ease…

September 29th bandh Normal life came to a halt during the one-day statewide bandh over the Cauvery water-sharing dispute on September 29th. Hundreds of pro-Kannada protesters and farmers were detained and more than 40 flights were cancelled. Many raised their voice against the government’s decision to release water to Tamil Nadu. The bandh was called by the Kannada Okkoota. Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code was imposed, prohibiting the assembly of four or more. Shops, eateries and theatres were shut down, even as schools and colleges declared a holiday as a precautionary measure. Kannada activists barged into a press conference…

Chennai Corporation to relay 61 roads The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is set to relay a total of 61 roads across the city. The roads have been chosen based on complaints received on social media about their poor state. The civic body has put together a comprehensive report based on photos shared on the poor condition of the roads since June this year. The work is expected to be carried out in the coming weeks and completed before the onset of the northeast monsoon. Some of the roads identified are in areas such as Mugalivakkam, Porur, Madhavaram and Madipakkam. The…

Highest number of Ganpati pandals since 2018 Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations are back to pre-pandemic fervour this year, with more than 2700 mandals getting a green signal to set up their pandals. The highest since 2018, the civic body has been busy preparing for the festival and is gearing up for immersions now. The BMC approved 72% of the total 3767 applications. The final number of pandals could be even higher, said Naresh Dahibhavkar, president of the Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti (BSGSS). The single-window system has been a success. Ramakant Biradar, deputy municipal commissioner, said, “Organisers are no longer required…

60 accident black spots The Bengaluru Traffic Police have identified 60 accident-prone locations or “accident black spots” in the city and have outlined some measures to enhance safety. The list will be submitted to the civic agencies. The black spots have been identified on the State Highway, National Highway, Ring Road, and other roads. Remedial measures include installation of accident zone signboards, construction of skywalks, placement of cat eyes and blinkers, CCTV cameras, rumbler strips, road markings, road humps, street lights, raised centre medians and speed limit signage boards. The report showed that over the past three years, the number…

Civic body to revise company tax The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has plans to revise company tax by at least three times the present figures. The revision will come into effect in the second half of this fiscal year. This move has been made with a view to improving the civic body’s finances and revising tax rates that have remained unchanged over many years. Earlier the civic body had revised property tax rates in the city.  With the revision, companies that have an investment less than a lakh will now pay Rs 300 as company tax. Those with investments less…

Private aircraft skids and crashes during landing, injuring 8 Eight people including the pilot and co-pilot were injured after a private aircraft veered off the runway at the Mumbai airport and crashed on Thursday evening around 5.45 pm. “VSR Ventures Learjet 45 aircraft VT-DBL operating flight from Vizag to Mumbai was involved in runway excursion (veer off) while landing on runway 27 at Mumbai airport. There were 06 passengers and 02 crew members on board. Visibility was 700 meters with heavy rain," the directorate general of civil aviation said in a statement. The eight passengers were admitted to the Criticare…

BWSSB: Set aside city's share of Cauvery waters The level in the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) reservoir has come down due to low rainfall this year. However, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) Chairperson N Jayaram, on September 8th, wrote to Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited (CNNL) requesting to keep aside the city's share of water in Kabini and KRS reservoirs. The sharing was asked to be done on a 'priority' basis reserve'. BWSSB, which supplies Cauvery water to almost 70-80% of the 1.3 crore population in various phases, sources the required Cauvery water from Shiva anicut in Malavalli…