Articles by News Desk

Street parking in Chennai has always been a contentious issue between pedestrians and vehicle owners. As the former wonders where to walk, the latter wonders where to park.  This question becomes even more prominent as Chennai roads bear almost 60 lakh private motor vehicles as of 2021, which is one-fifth the total number of vehicles in Tamil Nadu. Moreover, the count of privatised motor vehicles has increased by two times. With these recent developments, street parking has become a pressing issue that affects daily life in the city. Attempts have been made to address the issue with the proposal for…

Teen footballer's death causes uproar The death of a 17-year-old football player, R Priya from Vysarpadi, due to medical negligence at the government hospital in Chennai has created an uproar across the State. Priya was admitted to Periyar Nagar Government Peripheral Hospital where she underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair the ligament on her right knee on November 7. She then developed complications due to prolonged pressure caused by a compression bandage and was shifted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) where her leg was amputated and treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). On November 15, she was…

Mumbai taxi drivers asked to put a rooftop indicator Mumbai's kaali-peeli (black and yellow taxi) drivers, by March 31st, 2023, will have to put an indicator on its rooftop that tells passengers if it is vacant, hired or the driver wants to take a break. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) has made it mandatory for all taxis in the city to install this colour-coded indicator before the deadline. The indicator will have green, red and white-coloured LED lights with writings in English and Marathi. Red will indicate that the vehicle is hired, green will signal if it is…

Opposition slams BJP government for voter data theft The BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) filed a complaint with the Halasaru Gate Police Station to look into allegations of voter data theft by Chilume Educational Cultural and Rural Development Trust, a private agency. The State Election Commission directed the district election officer (DEO) to conduct a probe and submit a detailed report. Senior Congress leaders, on November 17th, slammed the '40% Commission Sarkara', the BJP-run government, for permitting Chilume to conduct a house-to-house survey and steal personal voter data. The agency had claimed to be creating awareness on filing online applications through…

Every year there is news about the loss of limb and life due to potholes on Bengaluru roads. Politicians across the spectrum announce funds to repair them, but little happens on the ground. In 2015, a group of citizens led by Vijayan Menon filed a PIL in the High Court of Karnataka demanding accountability from BBMP who they held responsible as the “owner and custodian” of all roads in Bengaluru per Article 12 of the Constitution. Read more: Roads not completed, users overcharged — the many potholes in implementing highway projects After multiple deadlines given to fix the potholes, Bengaluru…

Desilting of Pallikaranai marshland invites backlash in Chennai Water Resources Department (WRD) is desilting a drain in the Pallikaranai marshland to prevent flooding in areas like Perumbakkam and Semmenchery, near Chennai. However, environmental experts believe that this move can backfire and cause more flooding in the surrounding areas because the marshland will get to a lower level than its current elevation. The latter is lower than that of the sea level. The Madras High Court has also restrained the authorities from desilting the marshland, point out activists from Chennai. But, the authorities plan to complete the dredging within a week,…

Gokhale bridge to be re-opened in Sept 2023 Despite all the delays and the danger it poses to the trains passing by below, there has been no headway as to who - the BMC or railways - will demolish the Gokhale bridge in Andheri, Mumbai. The Gokhale bridge was partially closed in 2018 and completely shut down this past week after structural audits revealed that the bridge was corroded and degraded. As the BMC claims to have no experience in demolishing bridges above railway tracks, it is banking on the Railways doing so in the next month. Tenders can then…

Almost 3 lakh deletions in draft electoral rolls The BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) has published the draft electoral rolls, but with almost three lakh deletions from last year’s list. On January 1 2022, the city had a voter population of 94,92,539, but that got reduced to 91,15,805 on November 9th. The public can put up suggestions for objections, additions and modifications to the electoral draft rolls by December 9th. As Assembly elections are due next year, the rolls assume significance, said Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath. He said that they have deleted almost six lakh entries as they were…

In its annual report titled ‘State of Policing and Law and Order in Mumbai, 2022’, PRAJA Foundation revealed that 98% of the total cases in Class II serious offences, including murder, crimes against women and cases under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act are pending for trial. In cases where the trials were completed, 86% ended in an acquittal or discharge. The data was based on findings from applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and data published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Read more: Is Mumbai really safe for its women? Data suggests otherwise…

Rains leave two dead and parts of the city waterlogged With the onset of the northeast monsoon on October 29th, Chennai has been experiencing heavy rains. The city was issued an orange alert. The downpour over the course of the week resulted in the deaths of two people. A 52-year-old autorickshaw driver, Devendran, was fatally electrocuted in Vyasarpadi on October 31st after he touched the pole of a pandal erected in front of a house, where rainwater had stagnated. Shanthi K, a 45-year-old resident of Pulianthope died after a concrete slab collapsed on her on November 1st. There has been…