Articles by Shobana Radhakrishnan

With traffic and congestion in the city increasing day by day, Koyambedu, which is home to the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT), the Omni bus terminus and the wholesale fruit and vegetable market has been facing bottlenecks on a daily basis. In an attempt to decongest the traffic, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has proposed to shift the operation of Omni buses and Mofussil buses that ply to the southern parts of Tamil Nadu to Kilambakkam where a Rs 393-crore bus terminus is being built. The construction of the Kilambakkam bus terminus near Vandalur in Chennai is nearing completion.…

Sakthi Vel N was on his way home from Kodambakkam on a busy night. He was stopped by the police personnel who asked him where he was from, to which he responded that he was from Vyasarpadi. Without any second thought, the police seized his bike. They asked him to go to the police station to collect his bike. "I had all my documents right there but that was apparently not enough. The fact that I am hailing from Vyasarpadi was enough for the police personnel to judge that there would be criminal cases against my name," said Sakthi Vel.…

Gone are the days we paid in cash for every other purchase. With the increasing use of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, almost all shops ranging from roadside stalls to big supermarkets tend to facilitate UPI payments. As much as it seems to have made our lives easier, there has been an increasing trend of scams related to UPI payments and digital transactions in Chennai and across the country. A recent study shows that the country has around 35 crore transacting users across various digital platforms, including e-commerce, shopping, travel and hospitality. The number is set to hit 70 crore…

Going over the stories I had worked on over the past year has been a bittersweet experience. While I was happy to be able to write on important issues, the pain of the people I encountered over the course of writing these stories is one I will carry with me for a long time to come. The thing about large cities like Chennai is how many people's struggles are invisibilised, and their lives relegated to the margins. Some of the stories that I penned endeavoured to spotlight the people who have fallen through the cracks in the system. Here is…

Chennai has taken several strides in climate action in recent years with the setting up of the Green Climate Company to tackle climate change challenges and through the formulation of the Chennai Climate Action Plan.  While the intent to fight climate change has been made clear, how climate action plays out in the city’s streets is the key issue. Key climate issues such as the destruction of Pallikaranai Marshland, the pollution caused by the Thermal Power Plant in Ennore and the recent gas leaks in Manali have shown that urgent measures are the need of the hour. Climate rallies in…

Nearly three years after the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2019, the State Environment Department published the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) and land use maps for Chennai and other districts in October 2022. The National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) prepared the base maps that have the demarcation of eco-sensitive areas (ESAs) like mangroves, coral reefs, sand dunes, mudflats and turtle nesting grounds and other coastal infrastructure in different colour codes. However, the fishing communities in Chennai have registered some strong objections to the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan as they have found many mistakes in the…

Savitha*, a 16-year-old minor girl from Chennai, was to be married off to a 35-year-old man in September of last year. Her parents invited close relatives to the ceremony by handing out invitations. Just as the wedding was about to take place, officials from Childline came to her rescue based on a tip-off from her 15-year-old cousin. He sent a copy of the invitation to the non-governmental organisation (NGO) that had once conducted an awareness programme on preventing child marriages in their locality. Savitha was lucky and was rescued on time. She is now pursuing an undergraduate degree in a…

It is a balmy Wednesday morning. Having arranged the chairs in rows and set the required vaccines ready on a wooden table, Selvi G, the Urban Health Nurse (UHN) of Valasaravakkam Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) in Chennai, awaits mothers scheduled to come in for the immunisation of their children. As the first of them arrive, Selvi gives them a heads-up that it is only normal for the child to cry after the injection and there is nothing to panic about. She tells them not to rub the injected area and to administer the medicine which will be given to…

A room of one's own is considered a basic necessity for a good life. But having one's own space to work, study and rest and a guarantee of privacy are a dream that is seemingly unattainable for many in Chennai. At a time when the city's real estate price seems to be skyrocketing, there are still many families who live in a single room in Chennai, without a proper roof and any ventilation. For these residents, the dream is not to build or buy a big multi-storey house, but merely call a space home where they can stretch their legs…

Are you someone who knocks on the doors of private clinics or large private hospitals even for a fever or minor ailments? Do you know there are government-run Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHC) in Chennai with facilities to treat minor ailments and for the diagnosis of major illnesses? The city's public healthcare infrastructure came under the spotlight during the pandemic as it was at the forefront of fighting the virus. The major government hospitals took in patients while the UPHCs served as points for screening and vaccination. It was only then that a majority of residents came into contact with…