Chennai gets first Dalit woman Mayor
R Priya Rajan, a 28-year-old M. Com graduate, was elected Mayor of Chennai following the indirect elections which took place on Friday. Priya, of the DMK, became the city’s first ever Dalit woman Mayor. She was elected councillor from Ward 74 in the Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Zone.
Priya is the third only woman Mayor of Chennai after Tara Cherian and Kamakshi Jayaraman.Priya’s father has been a long time member of the DMK. Priya enrolled in the party at age 18 and has been involved in politics for the past decade.
Along with Priya, Mahesh Kumar of Ward 169 was elected as the Deputy Mayor of Chennai. DMK won 153 of the 200 wards in the recently concluded local body polls, giving it control of the Chennai Corporation.
Source: The Hindu | First Post
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Chennai under threat from climate change: IPCC report
The recently released report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has listed Chennai among the Indian cities at risk from rising temperatures. The IPCC report says that Chennai is at risk of surpassing a critical threshold of heat and humidity.
Chennai has been named among other cities such as Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar, Indore and Ahmedabad as potentially reaching critical wet bulb temperatures (a measure combining heat and humidity) if emissions continue to rise unabated. Chennai could see wet bulb temperatures between 32-34 degrees in the near future.
Wet bulb temperatures over 31 degrees is deemed dangerous for humans. The impact will likely be felt acutely by the elderly and most vulnerable sections of the population. In this scenario, Chennai would also experience intense heat waves and severe cyclones.
Source: The New Indian Express
Adyar Eco Park to get a facelift
The Tholkappiar Poong, also known as Adyar Eco-Park, is all set for redevelopment for the coming decade. Work on the park began in 2008 and was formally inaugurated in 2011. The Chennai River Restoration Trust has now approved a redevelopment plan for the park for a period of 10 years.
The redevelopment plan will look at improving existing infrastructure and carry out repairs of compound walls, desilting and improving the nursery. The first round of redevelopment was done by Pitchandikulam Forest Consultants.
The work now is expected to improve the resilience of the park and also help residents understand the complex ecosystem of an urban wetland. A master plan and detailed project report would be drawn up by the selected consultants to this end.
Source: The Hindu
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Improvements set to take place for stormwater drains across city
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is all set to undertake works to repair, link and build stormwater drains across the city in 226 streets. The civic body estimates that this project would cost Rs 5500 crores.
Chennai has incomplete stormwater drain network coverage with only 2200 kms of the city’s 5500 kms covered. The civic body will undertake 767 kms of stormwater drain work in the northern part of the city and 560 kms of work in the southern part.
Construction of missing links and drains will take place soon under the Singara Chennai project. Areas in Seethammal Colony, KK Nagar, Virugambakkam, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar and T Nagar will see drains constructed under this project.
Source: The New Indian Express
[Compiled by Aruna Natarajan]