Fresh cases of Omicron in Chennai
Chennai’s tally of persons infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 virus has shot up in the past week. The city has currently identified 26 persons infected by the Omicron variant as of December 23rd. The number of fresh cases of the omicron variant across the state rose to 34 as 33 persons tested positive for the virus on a single day.
All those who have been infected are under strict quarantine. Their condition has been deemed to be stable. All international arrivals continue to be tested in the airport upon their entry. The passengers are only allowed to leave the terminal upon receiving a negative result.
Source: The Times of India | The Indian Express
OSR land details made available online
Details of Open Space Reservation (OSR) land for all the zones under Chennai Corporation have been uploaded on the website of the civic body. The website now provides information on OSR land in each street. The OSR land information is available under the public information portal section of the website. Any errors in the details uploaded can be brought to the notice of the authorities by writing to them.
Per the extant norms, the civic body will acquire 10% of the land as OSR land when planning permission is granted for buildings larger than 10000 sq m. The move to upload the OSR land details came after an Executive Engineer of Chennai Corporation failed to provide OSR land details as part of a Right To Information (RTI) request.
Source: DTNext
Read more: How Chennai police is helping marginalised youth and kids stay happy and productive
More police boys and girls club for Chennai
Chennai Police is all set to create 51 more police boys and girls clubs across the city. Currently the city has 60 such clubs. The first of such clubs was inaugurated in 2003. The aim of police boys and girls clubs is to find ways to meaningfully engage the children and prevent any association with anti-social elements.
Police boys and girls clubs have been focussed on engaging children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The clubs provide space for a range of activities such as sports coaching, computer classes and access to libraries. The children are also provided guidance on future career opportunities and counselling. The funding for some of these activities comes from corporate CSR funds with companies being able to adopt a club.
Source: The Hindu
Read more: When can persons with disability look forward to regular beach outings?
Marina beach to be accessible for all
The Greater Chennai Corporation has provided permission for disability rights groups and NGOs to create a temporary pathway on the Marina Beach. The pathway will make the beach accessible to persons with disabilities and senior citizens. The pathway has been created as part of the end of year festivities. The facility has been created as part of the “Monday @ Marina” event that is set to take place from December 27th to January 2nd.
Despite many requests from disability rights activists, the city’s longest beach has remained out of bounds for many as it is not inclusive. The creation of a permanent pathway has been on the cards for many years but yet to materialize. The civic body has provided assurance that a permanent pathway will be created soon for everyone to enjoy the beach.
Source: The Hindu
Corporation identifies unsafe schools
The Greater Chennai Corporation has identified 40 structures in schools managed by it that are unsafe. The civic body conducted an audit of all schools in a bid to identify and fix any structures that are deemed hazardous. A team of officials from the education department have been deputed to carry out the audits. The move comes on the heels of the tragic demise of three students in Tirunelveli due to the collapse of a wall in their school building.
The team from GCC has identified various unsafe structures such as walls with deep cracks and unstable ceilings. The findings from the audit have been passed on to the buildings department of the civic body. Engineers will take up repair and renovation work on these unsafe structures after inspecting them.
Source: DTNext
[Compiled by Aruna Natarajan]