City: Chennai

It all started with a nine-kilometre ride three years ago. Soon cycling enthusiast Felix John started pedalling long distances, with his recent record being a 1200-km ride to Coimbatore. And now, he is Chennai’s Bicycle Mayor, appointed by BYCS – an Amsterdam-based social enterprise. His responsibilities as a bicycle mayor are many and diverse: to increase cycling in the city and to bridge the gap between cyclists and local government, among several others. In an interview with Citizen Matters, Felix John, who takes pride in hailing from North Chennai, talks about the ambitions, feasibility and challenges of promoting cycling in…

Air quality in all 15 locations sampled from across the city between May and July 2019 was unhealthy, with levels of PM 2.5 in the worst affected areas nearly three times the national standard of 60 ug/m3, according to a study released by Healthy Energy Initiative and Doctors for Clean Air-Tamil Nadu. The widespread nature of pollution and the fact that the samples were taken in summer highlights how the current pollution crisis is neither an isolated nor a seasonal incident. The study analysed 24-hour air samples for PM 2.5 and a host of heavy metals. The densely populated areas…

Chennai Corporation bags award for social innovation Chennai Corporation was bestowed with an award recognizing its social innovation initiatives. The award was for accelerating the transition towards a sustainable city through projects like Namma Chennai App and smart classrooms and was given by Governance Now, a public policy organization. Source: The Hindu Chennai Police launches "Thozhi" to counsel victims of child sex abuse 70 police women personnel have been assigned the role of  counsellors to child victims of sexual assault. The scheme known as "Thozhi" was launched by the city police commissioner A K Viswanathan. The 70 policewomen will be…

The air quality in Chennai has deteriorated to alarming levels. An hourly data feed from Central Pollution Control Board's app - Sameer - shows that as of Nov 7th, 2:37 PM, the Air Quality Index (AQI) level in Velachery area stood at 271 (as compared to Delhi which is at 282 at the same time). The Weather Channel AQI data for the same time showed Chennai AQI as 217. While the calculation to arrive at AQI may differ, but one thing is clear from the findings across all these reports. The air is not healthy for breathing. Chennai's natural air…

Introducing our new series with Raaghav Ranganathan that deals with common problems faced by citizens and ways to solve them. Each video will address a frequently faced issue and provide step by step solutions to address them. How to file a consumer complaint Have you ever been sold a faulty or broken product? How has your experience been in trying to get a refund? Have you had to approach the consumer court to address your grievance? For many consumers, being saddled with a bad product and cursing their luck is the end of the road. But there are ways to…

It has suffered decades of neglect: languishing in dilapidated condition for years and later ravaged by fire. But, Humayun Mahal in Chepauk, the world’s first-ever building constructed in the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture, is now slated for a new lease of life.  The long, creaking sound of walls being drilled into echo across the construction site on a mid-October Friday morning. Scraping the plastering off a wall in the interior of the building, B Raju, a 49-year-old worker wipes the sweat off his face. “We are following the same traditional methods followed to construct the building over 240 years ago,”…

Following the tragic demise of a two-year-old who fell into an unused borewell on October 29th, efforts are underway to document and secure open wells and borewells. To this end, the Metro Water department has called for all Chennai residents to register their open wells and borewells with the authority by November 10th. The exercise, which was announced on November 1st, is also a way for Metro Water to enumerate the number of functioning borewells in the city, for which up-to-date information is not available. How to register your borewell and open well If you are a resident of Chennai…

A smoke-filled Chennai yet again this Diwali Though there have been contrasting reports from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), by all accounts, air quality levels post Diwali were poor. Pollution levels at several locations in the city went up on Deepavali, with concentrations of PM2.5 crossing 400 micrograms/cubic metre at Manali, Velachery and Alandur. However, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board’s (TNPCB) data from five locations shows a completing contrasting picture. The city Corporation collected a total of 22.58 tonnes of cracker waste on Saturday and Sunday across all 15 zones, of…

Chennai saw 543 registered cases of dengue till October, the highest across all districts in Tamil Nadu in this calendar year. The civic body has promised to undertake more preventive measures such as fumigation and conduct awareness drives to educate citizens on dos and don’ts, to arrest the spread of dengue. Citizens in their individual capacity can be prepared to prevent the spread of the disease by undertaking certain preemptive measures.  Here are a few key pointers from the Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital on how dengue spreads, the symptoms, course of treatment and what you can do to avoid…

Pondy Bazaar in Chennai has always been and will remain an evergreen destination. Visitors to the buzzing area can now look forward to new ways of experiencing it, thanks to the 'Pedestrian Plaza' project that prioritises pedestrians, especially children, the elderly and other vulnerable users. The Pedestrian Plaza is bound to attract more locals and foreigners, boost the economy and above all, enhance the identity of this shopping hub. This is the first infographic-based blog of a four-part series on how the Pedestrian Plaza project has transformed Thyagaraya Nagar. (Conceptualised and Designed by Kawin Kumaran, Aishwarya Soni; Content created by…