City: Chennai

NGT slaps local body with Rs 8 lakhs fine The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has slapped the Chitlapakkam Town Panchayat with Rs 8 lakh fine for improper waste management. Taking note of the flouting of Solid Waste Management (SWM) norms, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) formed a committee to conduct a probe and recommend solutions. The body has directed the TNPCB to impose fine.  The under-fire Panchayat was found to have rampantly violated the regulations as bio-medical wastes and domestic wastes were frequently disposed along the roads. The Panchayat stated that the face-off between the self-help group that has…

“We have been in the business of dry waste management for years but nobody gives us a salary or respects us,” says Nayan Mohammad, a local waste picker in Velachery. Time and again, local waste pickers have been denied recognition for the vital work they do. They lack any kind of safety net and continue to operate informally on the fringes of waste management and are not given an opportunity to step into the formal fold.  This time too, with the Indo-Spanish partnership ‘Urbaser-Sumeet’ bagging the waste management contract with Greater Chennai Corporation, waste pickers in many parts of the…

You walk up to the counter and pick up your serving of piping hot sambar rice and sit in a neat row of chairs under colourful umbrellas. You make a mental note to pick up some coffee from the small kiosk on the premises on your way out. After polishing off your meal, you pay Rs 5, a fraction of what it would cost you anywhere in the city, as you have just eaten at Amma canteen 2.0. This could well be the future of the ubiquitous, government-run, low-cost eateries as its management has been turned over to a trust…

Porur and Ramapuram are two neighbourhoods which were only recently included in the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) limits in 2013. But long before the inclusion and subsequent formation of resident associations here, Ramapuram was largely an isolated place with cultivable lands.  “Alcohol brewing was the main occupation back in the 1980s when the neighbourhood was a village. In the early 2000s, people began to settle here, educational institutions and firms were established and that is how the locality began to develop,” recalls PV Kishore, a resident of Ramapuram since 1984.  Kishore adds that groundwater was the only source for drinking…

How to enhance green cover in Chennai -- this is a question being mulled over for decades now. But despite various attempts in that direction over the past two decades, the conversation around greening Chennai really gained momentum only after Cyclone Vardah uprooted thousands of trees in December 2016. Organisations working on biodiversity conservation initiated research projects on the city’s shrinking greenery, the number of tree plantation drives rose sharply and nodal agencies of tree management in the city were seen teaming up with organisations and individuals to find effective solutions.  Nevertheless, there seems to be a huge disconnect between…

Translated by Sandhya Raju நம் குடியிருப்பு பகுதியிலுள்ள குடிமைப் பிரச்சினைகளைத் தீர்ப்பதில் குடியிருப்பாளர்கள் நலச் சங்கங்களின் பங்கு மறுக்க முடியாதது. இப்பகுதியில் குடிமை வாழ்க்கையில் சாதகமான மாற்றங்களைக் கொண்டுவருவதற்கு உதவுவது மட்டுமல்லாமல், குடிமக்கள் மத்தியில் அவர்களின் உரிமைகள் மற்றும் கடமைகள் குறித்த விழிப்புணர்வை மேலும் மேம்படுத்துகின்றன. ஆனால் அத்தகைய சங்கங்கள் இல்லாத சூழலில், எவ்வாறு அதை உருவாக்குவது? அதன் அதிகாரங்கள் என்ன? யார் அலுவலக பொறுப்பாளர்களாக முடியும்? துணை சட்டங்கள் எவ்வாறு வடிவமைக்கப்படுகின்றன? ஒரு நலச் சங்கத்தை உருவாக்குவது தொடர்பான பொதுவான பல கேள்விகளுக்கு பதிலளிக்க இந்த கட்டுரை மூலம் முயற்சித்துள்ளோம். குடியிருப்பு நலச் சங்கம் என்றால் என்ன? அது எவ்வாறு உருவாக்கப்படுகிறது? குடியிருப்பு நலச் சங்கம் என்பது ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட சுற்றுப்புறத்தில் அல்லது குடியிருப்பில் வசிக்கும் குடியிருப்பாளர்களைக் கொண்ட உறுப்பினர்களின் ஒரு அமைப்பாகும். தமிழ்நாடு சங்கங்களின் பதிவு சட்டம் 1975 - இன் கீழ் இவை பதிவு செய்யப்படும்.…

Health workers hold protests Even as the city continues its battle against the Coronavirus outbreak, several health workers held a protest at the Directorate of Medical Services seeking permanent employment. The Tamil Nadu government appointed 3,000 health workers at a consolidated salary with promise of permanent employee status a few years after service. The State Health Minister had promised in 2019 that workers who completed five years of service would be made permanent. One year since the announcement was made, there has been no action on the promise, resulting in protests by the workers. Source: The Hindu Waste water reclamation…

Elections, our festival of democracy, are around the corner in Tamil Nadu. A good indicator of election season of late has been the flurry of activity by the civic body across the city. Roads that citizens have complained about for years with no response get a facelift, potholes are fixed, pavements are laid and any and all grievance is addressed with a swiftness that makes one wish election season lasted longer.  Several infrastructure development projects which had been put on the back burner over the past five years will now be taken up on a war footing and completed in…

“Marina beach has been our home for almost 40 years. We have done different kinds of business here to support our families. Whether during the rains or the harsh Chennai summers, we continued our trade to feed our kids. If we are forced to leave this place, what shall we do?” says a distraught S Kalyani, as she slices fruits to be sold at her stall on Marina beach. At present, the beach accommodates more than 2430 carts used as vending stalls and even has 200 inactive spots. The majority among the vendors belong to the fishermen community, while some…

Climbing the tower at Anna Nagar Park is easily one of the most exciting childhood memories for E Sendil Kumar to this day. For Sendil, Managing Director of Nova Lifespace Private Limited who still resides in Anna Nagar, the mesmerising view of the entire area from the 12-storied tower was a much better spectacle and brought greater thrill than all those television shows during his formative years. The Anna Nagar Tower Park was a quick and refreshing getaway from the city's hustle and bustle for many residents. With kids on Tennikoit rings, elders discussing politics, friends in a huddle and couples…