Articles by News Desk

Solid waste management is the gordian knot of urban issues deeply embedded in the larger contexts of consumerism, informal livelihoods, urban ecology, public health, and the political economy of urban development. The question of managing urban waste involves legal, political, economic and social challenges spanning urban infrastructure, technical and human capacities, workers’ safety and welfare, cooperation with local government and citizens, planning, public health, climate change preparedness and sustainable development. Vidhi’s documentary ‘Garbage Matters’ highlights the mounting problem of disposal of municipal waste in Delhi, the implementation of Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, and various judicial interventions on the issue.…

Twitter pulled up by Parliamentary panel Global social media giant Twitter has been engaged in a deadlock with the government over the new IT rules for the past few months. Summoned by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, the panel has asked Twitter for a written reply to a set of questions. The microblogging site has been dragging its feet in complying with the provisions of the new IT rules. Standing committee members made it clear to Twitter that the law of the land is supreme. Representational image from Pixabay Twitter, on its…

Corporation adopts a multipronged strategy to combat COVID With the possibility of a third wave of COVID-19 being predicted, the Greater Chennai Corporation plans to scale up the number of ICU beds and keep them ready at community health centres across the city. This move comes after a series of meetings held with experts and epidemiologists.  The corporation plans to increase the number of available ICU beds in phases. In the first phase, a minimum of 15 hospitals attached to the civic body will get ICU beds. The expert team also suggested the genomic surveillance of COVID-19 samples for containing…

Property tax rates to spike 14% If a proposal by the Assessor and Collector Department (ACD) is approved by BMC, Mumbai’s property owners will have to pay higher taxes this year. The rate revision had been scheduled for 2020 but the civic body decided to delay it in lieu of the pandemic. The head of ACD told Indian Express that the revision will be implemented for ready reckoner rates which help to assess the true market value of properties. BMC officials have stated that this revision will not impact owners with properties up to 500 square feet and hotels registered…

6,316 trees to be axed to revive lake Residents and activists are angered by the Karnataka Forest Department seeking public consultation to cut 6,316 trees. The trees are to be felled so as to rejuvenate the Singanayakanahalli lake, as part of the Hebbal-Nagawara valley project. Forest department officials say most of these trees are Jaali Mara (Prosopis Juliflora), but activists say there are Acacia and Pongame oil trees (Honge Mara) trees too. And that the habitat houses peacocks that belong to Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, along with foxes, snakes, birds and other animals. Activists point out…

In 2018, the NGO Bangalore Environment Trust (BET) filed a PIL (WP 17841 of 2018) in the High Court of Karnataka, considering the city’s deteriorating green cover. The PIL sought to implement the provisions of the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act 1976 (‘Trees Act’). This article is a brief summary of the current status of the PIL. The petitioners’ prayers to the court were as follows: The Tree authority and the Tree Officer should do their duties diligently as per Tree Act.A comprehensive Tree Census should be carried out.A public notice should be issued when the Tree Officer gets an…

Overflowing dustbins, irregular collection of garbage and mounds of unsegregated mixed wastes -- these are the stuff that every Chennaiite's nightmares are made up of. But thanks to the efforts of the Chennai Corporation, civic activists and citizens, the city had made significant positive strides in solid waste management before the onset of the pandemic.  The city corporation decentralised waste collection and segregation. Through the Zero Waste initiative, the civic body set up a system where collection and segregation took place at various points at the zonal level, with subsequent processing at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and Micro Composting…

As one of India’s largest and most populous metros, Chennai exhibits all the traits and vulnerabilities inherent to a developing, high-density city. Rapid urbanization has led to pollution, poverty and energy and water scarcity.  However, one of the key issues with the city is a pronounced lack of civic consciousness. Resilience working group sessions (led by the  Resilient Cities Network chapter in Chennai) involved experts from government, civil and academic bodies. They concluded that in order to achieve sustainable development goals and build resilience, civil ownership and participation was essential. These are the top three areas where citizen participation and involvement…

95% seropositivity even after vaccines, reveals new study As per a new pan India level study, 515 healthcare workers showed 95% seropositivity after taking two doses of Covishield or Covaxin, indicating that both vaccines are effective and safe. The study also said formation of antibodies are high even after the first dose. Done in 22 cities across 13 states, the study found that 95% sero prevalence was triggered after 21 to 36 days of the second dose. It covered 305 male and 210 female participants out of which 425 were administered two doses of Covishield and 90 received Covaxin. The…

COVID: Corporation vaccinates traders, post-COVID follow-up initiated In a bid to prevent the Wholesale Market Complex at Koyambedu from becoming a COVID hotspot once again, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has vaccinated 239 traders, workers and others as on June 10th.  With the second wave of the pandemic subsiding, the number of containment zones has decreased in Chennai and is currently less than 100. By June 7th, the number of containment zones fell down to 81 from 365 a month ago at the height of the second wave.  The civic body has initiated post-COVID follow-up care for recovered residents of…