City: Chennai

The residents of Ward 70, Zone 6 in Perambur have banded together under the banner of Community Welfare Brigade to release the following charter of demands to candidates contesting from the Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar Constituency. Charter of Demands 1) Remove the cluster of TASMAC bars near the Perambur Railway Station. Portion of the bars cannot be operated in open air. Get the bars to provide sufficient number of clean toilets and large designated parking lots within their property. Curb drinking, smoking or urinating in public. Push the administration on our behalf to enforce the available rules and regulations with earnest. Residents…

Chennai is one among the many urban civic bodies in Tamil Nadu that has not had local body elections in the last 10 years. The state government has been administering the cities and towns by appointing special officers in place of the Mayor and councillors. There has been a lot of hue and cry over the absence of an elected local government, but with little effect. Now with the State Assembly elections around the corner, will it pave the way for conduct of municipal elections? Can we expect to see concrete reforms in urban governance? Will Chennai and other cities in…

AIADMK, DMK and MNM release candidate list ConstituencyAIADMKMNMDMKAvadiK PandiarajanUdaya KumarS M NasserMaduravoyalBenjaminPadmapriyaK GanapathyAmbatturV AlexanderVaideeswaran SJoseph SamuelVirugambakkamVirugai N RaviSnehanAMV PrabhakarT NagarB Sathya NarayananPazha KarupaiahJ KarunanidhuMylaporeR NatrajSri PriyaT VeluPallavaramChitlapakkam S RajendranSenthil ArumugamE KarunanidhiTambaramK M ChinnaiahSiva ElangoS R RajaTiruvottiyurK KuppanNot announcedK B ShankarVillivakkamJCD PrabhakarNot announcedA VetriSaidapetSaidai S DuraisamySneha MohandossM SubramanianVelacheryM K AshokSanthosh BabuN/ASholinganallurK P KanthanRajiv M RS Arvind RameshAnna NagarS Gokula IndraV PonrajM K MohanPeramburNot announcedS A PonnusamyR T SekarMadhavaramV MoorthyRamesh KondalasamiS SudarsanamRK NagarR S RajeshFazilJ J EbenezerKolathurAdirajaramNot announcedM K StalinAlandurP ValarmathiSarath BabuT M Anbarasan Source: Times of India | The New Indian Express Read more: 6000 booths, strict COVID protocol, 80-plus to…

When it comes to bus services in the city, there seems to be a wide and clear gap between what residents want and what they get. A recent newspaper report highlighted the intensifying public call for resumption of small buses on route S3 along the Chrompet-Madambakkam route, that were stopped three years ago. When members of a residents' association in Chitlapakkam filed a petition with the CM Cell, they received a reply saying services had been stopped due to poor patronage. Yet, there are many commuters who say that they were benefitted by these buses that used to run at…

Nominated by the Election Commission of India (ECI), a District Election Officer (DEO) supervises election-related work in the district. In other words, the officer is responsible for ensuring good polling percentage, preparation of booths, setting up the grievance redressal system in coordination with the ECI, and conduct of other election-related duties.  G Prakash, Commissioner of the Greater Chennai Corporation is the DEO of Chennai. Ahead of him lies the Herculean task of ensuring safe, smooth elections during an ongoing pandemic, as the city gets set to vote along with the rest of the state in the Assembly elections scheduled for…

Translated by Sandhya Raju “உலர் கழிவு மேலாண்மை பணியில் நீண்ட காலமாக உள்ளோம் ஆனால் எங்களுக்கு ஊதியமோ மரியாதையோ இல்லை" என்கிறார் வேளாச்சேரியில் கழிவுகளை சேகரிக்கும் நயன் முஹமத். அந்தந்த பகுதிகளில் கழிவு அப்புறப்படுத்தலில் மிக முக்கிய பங்கு வகிக்கும் இவர்கள் நீண்ட காலமாக புறக்கணிக்கப்படுகிறார்கள். எந்தவொரு பாதுகாப்புமின்றி அவர்கள் பணி முறைபடுத்த வாய்ப்புகளின்றி தொடர்ந்து பணியில் ஈடுபட்டுவருகின்றனர். இந்தோ-ஸ்பானிஷ் கூட்டு முயற்சியில் "அர்பேசர்-சுமீத்" நிறுவனம் கழிவு மேலாண்மை ஒப்பந்தத்தை பெற்றதையடுத்து, இந்த முறையும், நகரத்தின் பல பகுதிகளில் உள்ள கழிவு சேகரிப்பவர்கள் நிராகரிப்பை எதிர்கொள்கின்றனர். புதிய கழிவு மேலாண்மை ஒப்பந்தம் பரவலாக்கப்பட்ட கழிவு மேலாண்மை என்ற அடிப்படையில் 2020 ஆம் ஆண்டு அக்டோபர் மாதம், ஏழு மண்டலங்களில் கழிவு மேலாண்மையை இந்த நிறுவனம் பெற்றது. மக்கும் கழிவுகள் (காய்கள், மீந்த உணவு போன்றவை), மக்காத கழிவுகள் (பிளாஸ்டிக், பால் கவர், பேனா போன்றவை) மற்றும் அபாயகரமான வீட்டு கழிவுகள்…

Bibliophiles in the city finally found cause to celebrate over the last fortnight as the much awaited 44th annual book fair was held on the YMCA grounds, Nandanam. Citizens from all sections of society flocked to the event to check out the new collections and buy their favourite books. The event comes to an end today, March 9th. But how did the book fair in the age of the pandemic go? Plagued by uncertainty due to COVID, the book fair this time, organised by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) was a much-anticipated event. Usually held during the…

On-site vaccine registrations on the rise among seniors The vaccination drive against COVID-19 for senior citizens and persons aged 45 and above with comorbidities kicked off on March 1st. While there are provisions for online and offline registrations, on-site walk-in registrations have gained momentum among this category.  On the other hand, seniors from western suburbs of the city have complained about the lack of adequate number of vaccine centres in their locality. Senior citizens living in Avadi travel all the way to either Anna Nagar or Thiruvallur to get the vaccine shot. Information on government vaccine centers too have been…

Amid the constant hustle and bustle of activities that keep Kotturpuram buzzing, the Miyawaki forest located near the Kotturpuram MRTS is a peaceful sanctuary, a pleasant burst of green and fresh air for all who pause here. The urban forest, which turned one in early February, was created in 2019 after cleaning about 1,600 tonnes of waste. More than 2,000 saplings of different varieties were planted that now yield hibiscus flowers, papaya and drumstick pods among others in the 2211.87 sq m** plot of land. https://twitter.com/albyjohnV/status/1356077781927378946?s=20 The Miyawaki method of raising forests has gained immense popularity across cities. Since the…

Registrations for the second phase of the vaccine drive against COVID were kicked off on March 1st. In this phase, citizens above 60 years of age and people above 45 years of age with comorbidities can register themselves for getting the vaccine. According to the announcement made by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,  Co-WIN website is the only place for registration for common citizens and the Co-WIN mobile application is only for administrators.  Read more: Interview: When and how will Chennai get the COVID vaccine? But what is the registration process like? Is there any provision for offline…