City: Chennai

Chennai generates about 6,000 metric tonnes of garbage every day. As the city's population continues to grow, waste generation is expected to increase even more. Not to mention the huge quantities of legacy waste currently accumulating in the Kodungaiyur and Perungudi dump yards. How will the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) effectively manage these vast amounts of waste? As this is a common urban issue, the government has proposed a solution already implemented in several other Indian cities. It suggests establishing an integrated waste management project facility, including a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant. It would come up in the North Chennai region,…

The Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution Control Boards are the primary custodians for preventing and controlling all forms of pollution in our country. Despite their significant role in environmental protection, the public is mostly unaware of the functions of these regulatory bodies, due to insufficient research. Therefore, we at Citizen consumer & civic Action Group (CAG) have attempted to understand the functions of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), through a study titled ‘The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board in Retrospect: An Examination of Selected Parameters from 2017 to 2022.’ Read more: Fisherfolk lament as environmental…

Recently, there’s been news that the new traffic challan system will mandate a Rs 10,000 penalty on old or new vehicles if owners don't acquire the Pollution Under Control (PUC) certification on time. To tackle expired certificates, the system will use CCTV surveillance to identify non-compliant vehicles and flag them for blacklisting from registration. The rule ultimately has several drawbacks, given the difficulty in acquiring PUC certificates in the first place. The number of PUC centres in Chennai has reduced drastically with only a handful still operational. Only the petrol bunk-owned PUC centres charge the customers based on the tariff…

A nurse-turned-politician, J Kayalvizhi, Councillor of Ward 179 in Chennai, studied nursing at Christian Medical College in Vellore. Until 2006, she worked with an MNC in Saudi Arabia. Since her return in 2006, she decided to take up social service to help people in need, especially in the field of education and health. Her husband, Jayakumar, has been in politics for many years now and holds the position of divisional secretary of Ward 179 in DMK. When Ward 179 in Chennai was reserved for women, Kayalvizhi's husband encouraged her to contest in the polls to channel her interest in social…

On a road as busy as the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR), there are many challenges residents and commuters face because of bad road infrastructure — some of these include the increased risk of accidents and traffic hold-ups that come with potholes. On discovering and using the ‘Namma Saalai’ app to fix potholes on the OMR, we, at the Federation of OMR Resident Associations (FOMRRA) decided to bring awareness about the app. We not only posted about it on our X (Twitter) account, @fomrra, but also encouraged and educated several RWAs to use the app and benefit from it. The above stretch, a…

With the onset of summer, Chennai has already started facing water woes. Veeranam Lake, one of the sources of drinking water supply for Chennai has dried up. Meanwhile, the storage level in Cholavaram Lake has come down to 9.99%. As of May 5, the reservoir sources in the city have a storage of 49.42%. Will Chennai face yet another drought like in 2019? This is one fear that residents of the city come face to face with every summer. And this year seems to be no different. To know how the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) is…

In December 2021, the Tamil Nadu government introduced the Nam Kudiyiruppu Nam Poruppu scheme for residents living in low-income, government housing and resettlement sites managed by the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB). In this scheme, residents form associations to oversee the maintenance of these sites, with the intention of transferring ownership of their living spaces back to them. This move is significant, especially for the resettlement sites, considering the minimal consultation and abrupt evictions relocated families have faced during the process. What the scheme entails The scheme also aims to improve the quality of living in these sites.…

The way the first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was conducted in Tamil Nadu, especially in Chennai, has laid bare the lacunae in the system. For residents, who were not able to cast their votes despite having valid Voter ID cards, it seemed nothing short of a sham. Every time before the elections, the electoral rolls are updated by Election Commission of India (ECI) officials. Instead of deputing people who are working full-time within the ECI, the work is outsourced to government employees drawn from schools, colleges or other agencies. These ECI staff, who come from distant locations,…

A collective of 34 civil society organisations and more than 200 individuals from Tamil Nadu and across the country have written to the Thiruvallur District Collector, Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Chief Wildlife Warden, and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Cell to protect the Pulicat Bird Sanctuary for ecological and social reasons and settle the rights of people without reducing the sanctuary's boundary. The voluntary groups have urged the government to initiate the settlement of claims of local communities residing in the 13 revenue villages within the Pulicat Birds Sanctuary boundary limits. Excerpts from the letter:…

It’s summer, and did we forget about the yearly floods again? Last December’s disastrous tryst with monsoons and flooding is not new to the city but often washed away with the city’s other priorities. Throughout its history, Chennai has faced a range of disasters, both related to climate and other factors. Over time, the incidence of such calamities, particularly floods and droughts, has escalated, significantly impacting the city and its people, economy, and infrastructure. What the city needs is strategic urban planning, efficient water management and collaborative governance to mitigate flooding. Chennai must also be prepared to effectively respond to…