Pillion riders fined for not wearing helmet in Chennai
Around 2000 pillion riders were fined by the Chennai Traffic Police for failure to wear helmets. The Police issues a statement mandating helmets for pillions starting Monday, May 23. The east zone saw the highest number of bookings at 844. The city traffic police aim to continue checks until 100% compliance of pillion riders wearing helmets is achieved. Those without helmets were fined Rs 100 and issued challans.
The high number of fatalities from road accidents among pillion riders has been a key factor in the stringent implementation of this rule. Despite the requirement for pillion riders to wear helmets, frequent checks were not carried out in the past two years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: The New Indian Express
Read more: ECR residents do not want a storm water drain; here’s why
ECR residents demand stoppage of SWD work
Residents of 20 associations across the East Coast Road have demanded the stoppage of work on construction of stormwater drains in the area. The residents’ letter to the Chief Minister comes on the back of many protests staged last year against the proposed project. They also mounted a legal challenge through the National Green Tribunal citing the potentially harmful effects of the Rs 310 crore project.
Residents of areas such as VGP Layout, Palgalai Nagar, Kapaleshwar Nagar and Sandeep Avenue are part of the group of neighbourhoods which have raised their concerns. The residents fear that the construction of stormwater drains in the area is unsuited for its topography and might prove counterproductive by causing flooding. They point out that despite the absence of an SWD network the ECR stretch saw very little flooding even during the floods of 2015.
Source: The Times of India
Central zones bag 50% schemes under Namakku Naame scheme
Under the Nammakku Naame Thittam, a civic scheme that encourages public participation, more than half the projects that have received administrative approval have been in the central zones of Anna Nagar, Teynampet and Kodambakkam. Of a total of 335 projects have been proposed under the scheme out of which 252 have received administrative sanction. The scheme covers a range of activities such as improvement of infrastructure in schools, renovation of parks and playgrounds, planting of saplings and beautification works.
The central zones will see the implementation of 127 projects at a cost of Rs 10.7 crore. The south and north zones will see 57 and 68 projects at a cost of Rs 4.6 crore and Rs 3.6 crore respectively. The proposed projects will see residents, welfare associations, NGOs or Corporates fund 1/3rd of the cost of the project. A total of 96 projects have been completed since the launch of the scheme last year.
Source: The New Indian Express
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Corporation to upgrade playfields
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) plans to upgrade 83 playfields across the city. The project is estimated to cost Rs 97 crore. Additional playfields will be created by making use of the Open Space Reservation (OSR) land. The needs of the local community will be taken into account while creating the necessary infrastructure in the playfields.
The infrastructure available would be football fields, open gyms, badminton courts or cricket fields. As part of the effort, a state-of-the-art football field is being constructed in Sembium in Ward 67 and is expected to be completed by May next year. The project is estimated to cost Rs 3.3 crore.
Source: The Hindu
[Compiled by Aruna Natarajan]