Articles by News Desk

Climate change is experienced in the form of erratic, unpredictable and extreme weather changes in the various seasons. This is impacting the periodic appearance of leaves, flowers, and fruits on the seasonal trees around us. Observing these changes regularly can give an insight into climate change's impact on biodiversity in India. Since trees are the basis of all life, including ours, understanding the impact of climate change on trees is imperative. For over a decade, SeasonWatch is leading a citizen science project following the patterns of emergence and maturation of leaves, flowers and fruits (“phenology”) on common tree species of…

No water or sewer connections for a decade in Sholinganallur It has been 10 years since the Sholinganallur Assembly Constituency was made part of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). But there has been a dearth of piped water and sewerage infrastructure in those areas to date. Residents demanded immediate action on these issues and staged a protest in Thoraipakkam on 12th March. The residents shared their concerns about the lack of water supply and sewerage in the IT Corridor, and how private tanker lorries are hampering the projects in this part of Chennai. The protesting residents were provided assurance by…

State Government to create SOP for under-construction sites after tragic accident in Mumbai Maharashtra government will be establishing a standard operating procedure (SOP) for under-construction buildings in order to prevent accidents in light of the one that occurred in Mumbai's Worli four weeks ago and resulted in the deaths of two pedestrians. During the Assembly session, Sunil Shinde, a legislator from Shiv Sena (UBT), brought up the issue of the February 15th accident by a calling attention motion. As per news reports, a concrete block fell from a crane of a 42-storey under-construction building killing two pedestrians. As a response,…

Viral fever cases Bengaluru hospitals are reporting high numbers of fever patients in the OPD, yet hospitalisations are much lower as patients are being admitted mostly in general ward rather than in the ICU. However, in the last fortnight, government hospitals in the city showed a rise in admissions to 45. The numbers in the state went up from 17 at the end of February to 52 on March 13th. An 81-year-old, suffering from ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) in the city passed away on March 9th, one of five deaths reported in the state this year. The weekly test…

Private operators to ply 500 buses in Chennai For the first time in its history, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has approved the Gross Cost Contract/Public-Private Partnership model to rope in private operators to own and ply private buses in Chennai. A tender has been floated by the MTC in this regard. While the MTC operates as many as 3,400 buses catering to 29.5 lakh passengers every day, the Chennai Sustainable Urban Services Programme (C-SUSP), the World Bank-funded Chennai City Partnership (CCC), as part of which the MTC has adopted the new model, aims to increase the number of buses…

Back to summer heat After a respite from the scorching heat after Mumbai took the honour of being the hottest in the country on Monday (at 39.3 degrees Celsius), expect a very warm weekend. It is likely to reach between 36 and 39 degrees Celcius, which will be accompanied by poor air quality. Strong winds from the east are pushing back the sea breeze. Post-March 12th, the temperature may slightly dip again. Source: The Indian Express Air quality data may be fudged A leading scientist has expressed doubts over the air pollution data from most of the continuous ambient air…

Viral fever cases among children An increase in hospitalisations, among children, due to viral fever has been reported since December last year. Influenza, including the currently prevalent H3N2 strain, is causing upper respiratory tract infections and body ache. On the other hand, adenovirus is leading to respiratory infections, gastro-enteritis and conjunctivitis, though body ache associated with it is less severe. Fever, cold, sore throat, body pain, vomiting and diarrhoea are probable adenovirus symptoms. However, adenovirus symptoms, which used to earlier resolve in two to three days, are now lasting seven to 10 days, with high-grade fever. The prevalence has been…

As a run-up to the upcoming Assembly Elections in Karnataka, the Bangalore Apartments' Federation (BAF) has launched a campaign Every Vote Matters (EVM). The campaign will have multiple activities to support member residents in three themes: Voter registration, voter awareness, and voter participation. Historically, it is generally believed that apartments/gated communities are not considered a significant vote bank as very few people register and vote, especially in local or assembly elections. BAF, through its sustained campaign, hopes to change this mindset and establish itself as a vote bank to reckon with. The campaign is expected to reach half a million…

Civic body removes close to 100 hawkers from Wall Tax Road The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has evicted 100 hawkers from the pavements near Chennai Central and Basin Bridge. The civic body has cleared encroachments over a five-kilometre stretch. The area used to have shops selling food, mechanical parts and other goods. Pavements were also encroached upon by parked vehicles. Apart from making it difficult for pedestrians to use footpaths, some of the encroachers were also found to have let out sewage into the recently built stormwater drains. Corporation officials say that they have taken a stronger stance against the…

Areas in Mumbai's Kurla to experience water cuts every Saturday for 10 days The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be carrying out works to strengthen water lines at Khairani road in Mumbai's Kurla for 10-days. As a result of this, starting March 5th, there will be a water supply outage in the area every Saturday for a period of 10-days. The BMC will be conducting the necessary works in stages instead of a continuous 10-day water disruption to prevent prolonged inconvenience to the locals. The civic body also advised the residents to boil water every Sunday as a precautionary measure…