Articles by V Sriram

The city of Chennai that was Madras has been in an unprecedented state of lockdown since the third week of March. It is of course not alone in this, for the rest of the country, and indeed much of the world is pretty much in the same situation. With the numbers in the city spiking of late, the Government has toed the line when it comes to the Central Government’s directive that the lockdown be extended by two more weeks – to May 17th. This is to the good, at least as far as keeping a check on the spread…

Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the World Health Organisation recently said that India has tremendous capacity in eradicating the coronavirus pandemic. He cited the country’s success in handling polio and smallpox, both through targeted public intervention. Of these, the smallpox story is directly connected to the history of Chennai, for it was here that the first decisive public intervention was done. And the man behind it was Dr Ayyagari Ramachandra Rao, the institution being the Communicable Diseases Hospital (CDH), Tondiarpet. I have written before about him, but a repeat is still worthwhile. Summer may pack in a whole host of…

The political establishment has been feeling lost ever since the High Court of Madras pronounced an outright ban on parties erecting digital banners and hoardings along the streets and roads of Chennai. And as is always the case, a minor adjustment when it comes to interpretation of the judgement will soon help in getting these public nuisances back. If the news agencies are to be believed, the Corporation of Chennai is of the view that the ban pertains only to political parties and not organisers of “marriages, birthdays and other social celebrations.” We are not sure if religious events are…

Enough and more has been said on the subject of stifling dissent and readers must be wondering as to whether yet another article on the subject is at all warranted. But even if we were to wish away what is happening elsewhere in the country, and we certainly cannot do that, the recent occurrences in Chennai have taken us by surprise and it is time we feel necessary to speak out on what the city stands for. But for those who are not aware, a brief recap is necessary. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 is the current subject of discussion…

It was exactly a year ago that the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) was launched with much fanfare. The media had at that time hailed it, claiming that it was the solution to all the ills that city’s public transport systems faced – each of them striking out in different directions and with no connection to each other. What was then forgotten was that even then the concept was seven years old. It had been approved by the Legislature in 2011 but for reasons best known to the Government, the required notifications were never issued. The change in political…

There we go again, asking everyone to celebrate Chennai, for Madras Week is just around the corner (August 18-25, 2019). The cynics we are sure, must be already practising their counter chorus beginning with the usual litany – Chennai was not founded in 1639, the weather here is uniformly bad, there is a perennial water crisis, the roads are terrible, the civic body inactive and the traffic chaotic. To all of this we agree in toto but these in our view do not in any way detract from the fact that there are several aspects to Chennai that are sufficient…

It is now around five years since the Central Government announced its Smart City project, under the auspices of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The mission, aimed at 100 cities of India, was meant to make them function better under various heads such as Mobility, Energy, Water, Technology and Environment. It was expected that these initiatives would improve the quality of life, get people to participate in governance, bring about transparency in the functioning of those in authority and promote public consultation. It is a moot point as to whether any of this has been achieved. The Short and…

With the Metrorail’s first phase now fully operational across the city, the organisation in charge, Chennai Metrorail Limited (CMRL), has begun planning for the second phase. Spanning over 119 km across three corridors, this project is expected to go for tendering by June this year. Soil testing is now ongoing in various parts of the city. The enthusiasm for the project is palpable, what with the first phase having shown how it can benefit the public. This is also time to ponder over how this phase can be handled in a more efficient manner than the first. The initial phase…

Let us make it quite clear at the outset – we are delighted that the city has a metro rail service in operation, albeit a mere fraction of what ought to have been running by now. Those who use the facility profess to be quite happy with it – it saves time, the stations are clean and Chennai Metro Rail Limited has also organised some kind of last-mile connectivity by pressing into service local auto-rickshaws and taxicabs. But what is of worry, apart from the high fares, is the shoddy workmanship of the stations and the numerous technical glitches that…

The elevated road corridor from Maduravoyal to the Harbour is back in the news. A Committee recently reviewed progress on the project with particular reference to the issues of land acquisition. Earlier in the year, it was decided that the road, planned originally for four lanes, will now be expanded to six. With all this, it appears that the project will take off once more, five years after it was stalled ostensibly for environmental reasons, while it was an open secret that the actual cause was political. The story then given out was that the piers for the elevated road…