Articles by News Desk

How do you check if your name is on the electoral rolls? How do you locate your polling booth? Who are the candidates in your constituency? Can you still vote if you don't have a voter ID card? Follow the Citizen Matters voters guide for quick answers to these questions and more. Election of the 18th Lok Sabha will be conducted in seven phases in all starting April 19 and ending on June 1 2024. Counting of votes is scheduled on June 4. In this mammoth and most challenging exercise in the world’s most populous democracy, it is crucial for every…

Cleanup Marshals are back in Mumbai “The Cleanup Marshal” scheme has been reintroduced by the BMC from 2nd April after a gap of two years. The scheme has been launched on a pilot basis in the A Ward. The marshals are now equipped with a mobile app via which they can issue penalty receipts to people caught littering. When launched earlier, there were complaints that the marshals were not issuing receipts and were carrying out extortion of tourists: the reason why the scheme was discontinued by the BMC in 2011. This system does away with physical receipts. Penalties can also…

Olive Ridley turtles released at Besant Nagar beach in Chennai The cute little creatures making their way through the sand and into the sea along the Chennai coast is a beautiful sight to watch for beach goers. Forest Department officials released around 10,000 newborn Olive Ridley turtles into the sea at the Besant Nagar beach on Monday. The Tamil Nadu coast is an important nesting site for these turtles. According to the Forest Department, nesting of the Olive Ridley turtles had been adversely affected following the Cyclone Michaung, which lashed the Chennai coast in December last year. But this year,…

Action against cholera outbreak A 27-year-old woman was tested for cholera, when she showed symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting. Her doctor informed the nearest primary health centre. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) took measures for surveillance and a health team visited 165 houses around her residence. Some awareness campaigns were created about transmission of the disease, importance of hygiene and using clean water. But they did not find symptoms of cholera in the 165 households.  As health officers and medical officers have been told to form Assembly Constituency/Zone Level Rapid Response Teams to deal with any cholera outbreak,…

Manual scavenging deaths Three labourers died when they fell into a 15-foot underground drain when they were cleaning the sewer chamber of a public toilet on Thursday. The incident occurred at Malwani Gate number 8 at Abdul Hameed Road in Ambujwadi in Malad. The men who died were 18-year old Suraj Kevat, his brother, 20-year old Bikas Kevat, and their father, 45-year old Ramlagan Kevat. According to a senior BMC official, one of them fell into the sewer chamber while cleaning the toilet and the other two men jumped in to save him. All three were pulled out by locals,…

Did air quality improve in 2023? The air quality in the city improved last year, shows the ‘World Air Quality’ report. The average PM2.5 value was 28.6 micrograms per cubic metre as against 31.5 micrograms per cubic metre in 2022 - better than since 2018. The report has ranked the city as the third most polluted in India and 673rd among 7,812 global cities. However, it is proven to be less polluted than many other metropolitan cities, including Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata. However, experts said that the improved air quality is due to climatic changes, such as the El Nino…

On Saturday, March 23rd, Oorvani Foundation hosted the first ever edition of the India Civic Summit, an annual event envisioned as a unique convening of people working in the urban civic space. The Summit provided a platform for them to come together to learn, get inspired and celebrate their journeys. In today’s time, where our cities face such overwhelming challenges — from traffic to water scarcity, from safety issues to vanishing commons and ecosystems — the need for citizen engagement is higher than ever. And that’s one of the reasons that the efforts and stories of the initiatives being undertaken…

Limits on using water The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has drawn up some guidelines to celebrate Holi on March 25th. While the festival can be followed in households or in public, potable water for any such event cannot be used. A rain or pool dance should not be organised for monetary gains and Cauvery or borewell water should not be leveraged for the event, said BWSSB Chairman, V. Ramprasath Manohar. However, several hotels are selling tickets for pool parties. Meanwhile, it is mandatory for bulk water users to install flow restrictors or aerators by the end of…

Bhushan Gagrani replaces Iqbal Singh Chahal as BMC Commissioner On Monday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) asked the Maharashtra Chief Secretary to immediately transfer the Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Iqbal Singh Chahal. Besides this, it also asked for the transfer of all Additional Municipal Commissioners and Deputy Municipal Commissioners, who have been in their current posting for over three years and are posted in their home district in Maharashtra. Soon after taking charge from Iqbal Singh Chahal, new BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani addressed a meeting for monsoon preparedness. Pic: BMC via Twitter (X) On Wednesday, the ECI…

Private firm to help GCC reclaim Kodungaiyur dump yard land The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has taken up the initiative of reclaiming land, where the Kodungaiyur dump yard stands and has signed a pact with the environmental infrastructure company, Ramky Infrastructure Limited for the purpose. The private service provider will do biomining to remove legacy waste from the dumping ground, which is the largest in Chennai. The project will be undertaken for Rs 216 crore for two years and four months. The presence of the dump yard in the area is a cause for concern for residents living nearby as…