City: Chennai

Wearing a loose khaki shirt over a polyester saree, Shanthi D starts her auto on what promises to be yet another challenging day. She has been an auto driver for almost 16 years now. Shanthi started her career at a time when very few women had the courage to choose this path. Years have gone by, and while the number of women colleagues in the profession has increased, even now, she is greeted with amusement or shock by many. Strong and determined Women auto drivers in Chennai are a growing tribe. While their choices do reflect a degree of empowerment,…

On-street parking in 32 spots In a bid to streamline parking management, the civic body rolled out the on-street parking project in Chennai last week. The project has been in trial since 2019 in 32 places and was inaugurated formally in Anna Nagar, T. Nagar and Besant Nagar.  With this project, the civic body has collected Rs 1 lakh a day and has created 9,200 parking lots which can be booked with an application designed to allow users to find vacant spots.  Source: The Hindu | The Times of India Read more: Street parking to be charged soon in city:…

Meerasa’s story is one of displacement. The son of a boat maker and a resident of Dhonirevu (Karimanal island), one of many villages around the Pulicat lake, Meerasa and his parents were evicted from their home in 1985 during ISRO’s Sriharikota expansion. Meerasa now lives in Jameelabad and has worked in conservation since he graduated from school. But with industrial expansion around Pulicat lake threatening the land and the mangrove forests that surround them, Meerasa fears that history might be repeating itself. About 50 km north of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, is Pulicat lake, the second largest brackish water ecosystem in…

On January 25th, Chennai appointed the country’s first Innovation Officer. 31-year-old engineer M P Azhagu Pandia Raja is all set to assume the role. Azhagu Pandia Raja spent five years with a software firm in the UK, before his urge to contribute to the nation brought him back to the country. He has since had a successful stint as an Indian Smart City Fellow, during which time he pioneered solutions around waste management and COVID response, working closely with the Chennai Corporation.  He credits the efforts of G Prakash, Commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation and Meghanath Reddy, Deputy Commissioner, Revenue in…

Smart, enthusiastic and brave -- that’s how those who loved Pavithra (name changed) will always remember her. Pavithra had an army of friends. Always curious, she used to ask questions about everything under the sun. Bright, vivacious, energetic. Until a traumatic incident changed her life.  Four years ago, Pavithra was sexually assaulted by her neighbour -- a college-going student. The 13-year-old girl withdrew herself from the world. ‘Why did it happen to me?’ is the only question she asks her mother these days. “She used to be brave even as a child. The incident has shaken her so much that…

Translated by Sandhya Raju அண்ணாநகரில் வசிக்கும் ஈ செந்தில் அவர்களுக்கு தன் சிறு வயதில் டவர் பார்க் பற்றிய அனுபவம் இன்றும் பசுமையாய் இருக்கிறது. இன்றும் அண்ணாநகரில் வசிக்கும் இவர், பன்னிரெண்டு அடுக்கு கட்டிட டவர் பார்கில் ஏறி இந்த பகுதி முழுவதையும் காண்பது இளம் பருவத்தில் தொலைக்காட்சியை விட சிறந்த அனுபவம் என்கிறார். இவர் நோவா லைஃப் ஸ்பேஸ் பிரைவேட் லிமிடட் எனும் நிறுவனத்தின் நிர்வாக இயக்குனர் ஆவார். குழந்தைகள் டென்னிகாய்ட் விளையாடுவதும், முதியவர்கள் நாட்டு நடப்பை அலசுவதும், நண்பர்கள் ஒன்று கூடி அரட்டை அடிப்பதும், தம்பதிகள் சுவாரஸ்யமாக பொழுதை கழிப்பதும் என அண்ணாநகர் டவர் பார்க் எல்லோருக்குமான ஒரு புத்துணர்ச்சி இடமாக திகழ்கிறது. ஆனால், செந்திலை போல் அவருடைய மகன் இங்கு செல்ல ஆர்வம் காட்டுவதில்லை. சில வருடங்களுக்கு முன், இங்கே ஒரு தற்கொலை சம்பவம் நிகழ்ந்ததை அடுத்து, டவர் மூடியே உள்ளது. பூங்காவில் உள்ள பசுமையான…

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…