Around 50 schools in the city await recognition
With less than a month to go for the commencement of the next academic year, 50 plus schools in and around Chennai are yet to be recognised, facing shutdown in the event of not being able to secure recognition by the end of this month.
The schools who have applied for CBSE and State Government recognition must get the required approvals this month, failing which they will have to be closed down. According to the Directorate of Education, a committee has been formed to update status and all private schools have been asked to upload the same on the education management information system portal between May 20th and 22nd.
Source: The Times of India
3.8 crore commuters on Chennai Metro since launch
With the commissioning of the 45-km Phase I, Chennai Metro has close to 95,000 people using it daily. Since the launch of the service, 3.8 core commuters are reported to have travelled in the metro.
The first service began on June 29, 2015, on the 8-km stretch between Koyambedu and Alandur during which period only about 8,000-9,000 people travelled. Chennai Metro saw peak travel between January to April 2019 and had a record one crore passengers. It had the highest ridership in April 2019 ever since it launched its services.
Source: The Hindu | The Hindu BusinessLine
City restaurants face severe water crisis
In a bid to cut down water consumption, over 90 per cent of restaurants in the city have shifted from plates to plantain leaves. According to Chennai Hotels Association, the city and the suburbs have close to 8000 stand-alone restaurants that use around 15,60,00,000 litres a day.
Similarly, the star hotels in the city have been appealing to the guests to use water wisely. Chennai and its suburbs have around 200 hotels including 50 odd 4 star and 5-star hotels. These hotels use around 19,50,000 litres of water a day. Meanwhile, as the impending water crisis gets worse, PWD is preparing a 60 crore master plan to revive Kolavai lake which will be a source of water supply for the southern suburbs.
Source: The Times of India
Rise in road accidents in the city
From 2016-17 till date, there has been an 11% increase in fatal accidents in the city. This has been attributed to the alarming increase in the number of vehicles on road — from 30.25 lakh in 2008-09, the numbers have gone up to 55.69 lakh vehicles in 2017-18.
In the last ten years, the usage of passenger transport has dipped by 3 per cent and non-motorised transport by 5 per cent while private vehicles have increased by 5.6 per cent. As of 2018, only 23 per cent of Chennai people use public transport, and just 28 per cent use non-motorised transport.
Source: The New Indian Express
Corporation to use battery operated vehicles for garbage collection
By December 2019, all tricycles and pushcarts used by conservancy workers of Greater Chennai Corporation to collect garbage will be replaced by battery-operated vehicles and light commercial vehicles that can collect garbage directly from households and take them to micro-composting centres or parks with mulch pits. Chennai currently has ten battery-operated vehicles in two zones — Valasaravakkam and Perungudi. The city will get about 2,800 to 3,000 of these vehicles at a cost of Rs 60 crore. The vehicles are expected to bring a semblance of dignity as well as physical respite to conservancy workers.
Source: The New Indian Express
[Compiled by Sandhya Raju]