Articles by News Desk

The 9th Annual Eureka Run sponsored by CanFin Homes is scheduled for 5:45 AM on February 24th, at Elliot’s Beach, Chennai. The run is organized by Aid India, a non-profit working on improvements in learning quality of children in villages. Aid India uses the annual Eureka Run as a platform to create awareness about issues that plague the field of education and its impact on the lives of children in Tamil Nadu. In the 1083 remote villages that it works in, Aid India aims to boost children's confidence by building skills in Spoken English, Mental Maths and Science.  Its unique…

Fuel stickers for Delhi vehicles The Supreme Court-appointed Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority has mandated fuel stickers for all vehicles plying in the national capital. The order covers all four-wheelers — old and new; private and commercial; cars, trucks and buses. The vehicles must have stickers that indicate what type of fuel is used by them. All vehicles must comply with the order by using stickers before October 2019. Petrol and CNG vehicles are indicated by light-blue stickers on their windscreens, diesel vehicles must use orange stickers, and electric and hybrid vehicles must use green stickers. 76000 vehicles currently…

88 tonnes of banned plastic seized in January It has been one month since the implementation of plastic ban in the state and the city has had mixed response from various quarters. Chennai corporation has seized 88 tonnes of banned plastic in the city during the last 31 days. According to the data compiled by the civic body, the largest quantity of banned plastics has been seized from outlets in Kodambakkam zone, while the lowest were in Madhavaram zone. It has also been reported that many retailers have gone back to use of banned items, especially bags and packaging material.…

In an attempt to leverage technology for civic responsibility, international school Chettinad Sarvalokaa Education and not-for-profit organisation, Reap Benefit are conducting a two-day event called Sarvalokaa Hackathon 2019. It is an initiative that will bring together young people from various spheres on one platform to solve local, civic and environment issues in their neighbourhoods. The Hackathon will take place on February 1 and 2, 2019 at Chettinad Sarvalokaa Education, inside the Chettinad Health City Campus, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Old Mamallapuram Road, Kelambakkam. The hackathon will comprise of workshops on rapid prototyping, design thinking, electronics and coding by some of the…

Swine flu spikes in Delhi The capital recorded 99 fresh cases of swine flu in the last week to take the number of cases registered to 267 so far in January. The total number of cases registered all of last year stood at 205. Two deaths have also been reported at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital due to the illness that has gripped Delhi. The flu has swept parts of North India with Rajasthan registering the highest number of cases so far. The Delhi government issued an advisory for the general public with dos and don'ts to protect themselves from…

Flyover repairs and delayed road-widening The Sirsi Circle flyover, constructed in 1999, was the longest flyover then, running 2.91km. It was repaired at a cost of Rs 2.8 crore, four years ago. Now the BBMP is planning to repair it again at a cost of 4.3 crores. The issue is in the longevity of the project. The material used will make the repair last only for four more years. The government’s plan of building elevated corridors has put the road widening plans in Whitefield and Electronics City to a halt. The proposed plan had been to provide an alternative route between…

Drastic cut in drinking water supply With the major reservoirs that are a source of drinking water to the city going dry, Chennai Metrowater has already cut supply of drinking water by half. The city gets 850 mld a day which is cut to 450 mld to 480 mld per day. The main source of water now are veeranam water supply project, desalination plants at Nemili & Minjur, agricultural wells and metrowater owned wells. The four lakes that supply water to the city have a storage level that is just 10% of their capacity. Meanwhile, Metrowater is also planning to set…

Like every year, Lalbagh is hosting flower show this year as well. The theme is Mahatma Gandhi's 150th Birth Anniversary. Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd has introduced return journey paper tickets for a flat price of Rs 30. One can travel from Lalbagh Metro station to any other stations at this fare, between 10 am to 8 pm, on January 25th, 26th and 27th. The tickets will be available at all metro stations between 8 am to 6 pm. The press note from BMRCL explains it: Like every year, our reader Srinivasan Subramaniam has shared the photos from the flower…

Bengalureans will get a chance to showcase their love for the city this Valentines Day. The Bengaluru Civic Fest organised by IChangeMyCity (an initiative of Janaagraha) along with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be held on the 14th of February at Freedom Park from 10 am to 8 pm. The festival will be a platform where various civil society organisations and groups discuss their work, government agencies communicate their work with citizens and school children will discuss their participation with local governments. The festival will see the presence of BBMP mayor and Corporators. Sapna Kareem, coordinator, Civic Participation, Janaagraha,…

'NGT buffer zone will raze 95% of the city' National Green Tribunal's order of adherence to buffer zones for lakes and drains will see 95% of Bengaluru razed, as most buildings are in the vicinity of lakes and tertiary drains, said Uday Holla, Advocate General of Karnataka, in a written submission at the Supreme Court last week. Earlier the Supreme Court had also expressed reservations on the rights of the National Green Tribunal, a statutory body, to change the 30-metre buffer zone around lakes in Bengaluru to 75 metres. Citizen Matters had earlier written about the problem in detail. Source:…