City: Chennai

Just like all civilizations, Madras also drew sustenance from a river. Historically, Adyar and Cooum Rivers played a pivotal role in the flourishing of Chennai. But today, with these rivers polluted, Chennai is largely dependent on the Northeast monsoon (mid-October to mid-December) that recharges groundwater. The presence of hundreds of lakes and temple tanks is a silver lining, but with most of them encroached and polluted, they don’t meet the water demand of the ever-growing city. So how exactly does this city of roughly 11 million people sustain itself? Where do you get the water that flows in your taps…

​​Recently, my Gandhi Nagar area WhatsApp group was abuzz with messages. The topic of discussion was the recently-announced Mega Streets Project.  The Mega Streets Project is an effort to transform arterial and sub-arterial streets to “ensure greater mobility, livability and utility.” These aims are set to be achieved through widening of footpaths, cycle-sharing systems, improving last-mile connectivity. Six streets have been chosen for the project, based on factors such as high intensity of visitors, potential for transformation and streets along transport corridors. Mixed reactions The news that our street had been one of the chosen ones was not universally well-received.…

Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers’ Co-operative Society, popularly known as Co-optex, evokes a nostalgic feeling among Chennaites. A saree passed down generations or a bedsheet that has been in a family for over 30 years are common memories attached to the brand. Since its inception in 1935, people's trust in Co-optex has never wavered and it continues to serve its loyal customers. However, after the 1990s, the brand started losing relevance and became less and less popular with the younger demographic.  In 2004-05, after Co-optex recorded a loss of Rs 85 crore, the management scripted a turnaround that brought the brand…

Vidya Sagar, a social welfare organisation working with disabled people, asked the children attending their school where they would like to go for an outing. The response was unanimous: the beach. While Chennai has myriad attractions to offer for those looking to spend time in the city, the attraction of its beaches remains unparallelled. Sadly however, these beaches, despite being immensely popular, remain inaccessible to individuals with disabilities. Efforts at inclusion The efforts to make Chennai’s beaches inclusive has been in the works for over four years now. Various disability rights organisations have presented proposals to make the beach accessible…

Translated by Sandhya Raju சொத்தில் முதலீடு செய்வது என்றுமே வீண் போகாது என்பது பலரின் எண்ண ஒட்டமாகவே உள்ளது. இந்த வருடம் ஜனவரி முதல் ஜூலை வரை, சென்னை மற்றும் அதன் புறநகரில் 57 வீட்டு தளவமைப்புகளுக்கு (4461 மனைகள்) சென்னை பெருநகர மேம்பாட்டு ஆணையம் (சி.எம்.டி.ஏ) அனுமதி அளித்துள்ளது. இதில் முதலீடு செய்ய பலர் ஆர்வம் காட்டியிருப்பர். முதல் முறை சொத்து வாங்குபவர்களுக்கு பல சந்தேகங்கள் இருக்கும். சொத்து வாங்கும் முன் ஆவணங்களை சரி பார்த்து முறையான அனுமதி உள்ளதா, அனைத்து சான்றுகளும் உண்மையானதா என சரி பார்த்தல் மிக அவசியம். சொத்து வாங்குவது குறித்த சந்தேகங்களை போக்க ஒரு வழிகாட்டி இதோ உங்களுக்காக: சொத்து வாங்கும் முன் எந்தந்த ஆவணங்களை சரி பார்க்க வேண்டும்? தாய் பத்திரம் மற்றும் விற்பனை பத்திரம் சொத்து உரிமையாளரின் விவரங்கள் அனைத்தும் தாய் பத்திரத்தில் இருக்கும். முதல் உரிமையாளார் முதல் தற்போதைய…

COVID: Post-COVID care centre at Omandurar, Covishield vaccine trials enter second phase On October 1st, 1,289 fresh COVID cases were registered in Chennai. The day also saw 1,000 recoveries and 18 deaths. Infographic summary of Covid-19 cases in Chennai as on October 2nd. Graphic: GCC/Twitter In a bid to offer post-COVID care for recovered patients, the state health department inaugurated an exclusive facility at the Government Medical College Hospital, Omandurar Estate. The centre will have the following facilities: automatic body mass index machine, spirometry for assessing lung function, a six-minute walk test to detect SPO2 (oxygen saturation) levels, a CT…

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” - Albert Einstein. Whenever I read this this quote, I always joke that our Indian education system, being evaluation based, makes sure that we forget most of what we learn! But the same quote takes on a new meaning in the present context when children have almost forgotten what they used to take for granted – to learn in a physical classroom with a teacher supervising and teaching them, in person. Schooling in times of COVID-19 It will soon be six months since schools shut and…

October 2. Gandhi Jayanti. Swachh Bharat Day. It was three years ago on this day that  the Greater Chennai Corporation mandated that all residents must segregate their waste at source, and only segregated waste would be collected by the workers of either GCC or Ramky, depending on which zone one lived in (I live in Zone 13- Adyar, one of the largest zones in the city.) The ensuing three years have been a journey of mixed experiences.. In many areas, citizen groups and resident welfare associations (RWAs), took upon themselves the task of ensuring source segregation of waste in their…

If you look at the last six months, Chennai has adopted a strategy that in some ways is similar to other large cities in the country: go into intense lockdown, lift some restrictions and back into selective lockdown again. Chennai has spent more days under intense lockdown than any other large metropolitan city in the country. While it’s technically still under lockdown, there have been significant relaxations that could see further easing over the next few weeks, but the incidence of cases in the city hasn’t caused any big spikes in the recent weeks. Source: https://www.covid19india.org/state/TN An overview of figures…

Three months and a number of loans -- This is what it took for S Mohammed Thameem’s father to buy a smart mobile. Thameem is a student with hearing disability, studying in Class 10 at the St Louis Institute of Deaf and Dumb. He had already missed classes for more than three months, due to the lack of a smartphone. Whenever his friends sent a screenshot of their virtual attendance, Thameem would be sad and gloomy.  With a salary of Rs 6,500 per month (after the pay cuts, due to the COVID-19 driven economic crisis), it was not easy for…