City: Chennai

Welcome relief as Chennai records excess rainfall After the longest ever dry spell experienced by the city, the southwest rains have brought in much-needed relief for the city over the last couple of months. According to reports, Chennai has also recorded excess rainfall of over 50% since June. Though the rainfall has been in short isolated spells, the few short and heavy spells in the city and suburbs have statistically resulted in excess rainfall this southwest monsoon. The Meteorological department has forecast more rains during the nights in the coming days. Weather experts have also predicted more rains in the…

1984: Vyjayantimala Bali | 1989: Vyjayantimala Bali | 2019: Thamizhachi Thangapandian.  And it ends there, this tiny list of women MPs elected from Madras/ Chennai. It took 32 years since the first Lok Sabha election in 1952 to get our first woman MP and a thirty-year wait for the second. Vyjayanthimala Bali was elected from South Madras constituency on the first two occasions and Thamizhachi follows in her footsteps, elected from the same constituency (now South Chennai). This only reiterates the immediate need for passing the Women’s Reservation Bill in the parliament to ensure that at least 33 per cent of seats…

I had written the below article in January 2019 . With a serious concern on the Railway Properties being encroached upon I sent a petition to the Ministry of Railways and sought their intervention. The outcome I would say has been positive.. given the changes we are able to see on the ground. https://citizenmatters.in/citizen-dairy/disappearing-natural-waterways-21595 The Temporary Toilets which were installed near the Vyasarpadi Railway Station have been removed Before Now Concrete Wall is being Constructed by the Railways. Before  Now   Work in Progess While this is a very welcome development, I think more needs to be done to address…

Four months after the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) initiated serious action on waste reduction and management in the city, the civic body is beginning to see the results. According to statistics obtained from Chennai Corporation, the daily average of garbage collected in Chennai has fallen from 5098 Metric Tonnes (MT) in March to 4493 MT in June, a reduction of 605 MT. In other words, Chennai Corporation is stopping an average of 18000 MT of waste from reaching the already burdened landfills of Perungudi and Kodungaiyur every month. Roadmap to reduction Here are the five steps being followed by Chennai Corporation…

It is now around five years since the Central Government announced its Smart City project, under the auspices of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The mission, aimed at 100 cities of India, was meant to make them function better under various heads such as Mobility, Energy, Water, Technology and Environment. It was expected that these initiatives would improve the quality of life, get people to participate in governance, bring about transparency in the functioning of those in authority and promote public consultation. It is a moot point as to whether any of this has been achieved. The Short and…

Chennai had a severely deficient monsoon in 2018 with 40% less rain than normal. Since then, the city has been bracing itself for a water crisis. But clearly not enough had been done and the severe water scarcity this summer has been a wake-up call for people, highlighting the urgency of finding ways to use their water resources better. Though rainwater harvesting was made mandatory in 2003 when the city experienced similar drought like conditions, the idea has been poorly implemented across the city. With the recent water crisis, the focus has shifted to efforts that the citizens can undertake…

The ground thundered, the sound was deafening. The atmosphere was jubilant and the weather too kept up with it. It was festive celebrations in Sriharikota on 22 July 2019. It was this day when India soared into space with its second lunar probe mission Chandrayaan-2, which is a follow-up mission to Chandrayaan-1 launched in October 2008. Once the mission concludes successfully, India will become the fourth country -- after USA, Russia and China -- to soft-land spacecraft on the lunar surface. India will also become the second country to land on the Moon’s south polar region.  India launched its first…

It was not the first time, nor the last, but at 5.30 am on July 16th, around an hour after Metro services resumed, Vadapalani Station had no security officials to guard the baggage scanners or frisk commuters. Commuters who patiently followed rules by waiting at the baggage scanner were met with yells of the staff belonging to the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL). “Just collect your baggage and move,” shouted two staff members, pointing at the unmanned scanners and standing on the other side of the automated gates.  On July 18th, around 7 am, St Thomas Mount station saw a…

Groundwater extraction without permission might invite action Hearing a public interest litigation petition filed against the illegal withdrawal of groundwater from private lands at Pidarithangal village in Poonamallee Taluk of Tiruvallur district, the Madras High Court has directed the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department to submit details on the number of permits issued across the city. The judges also pointed out that Section 5 of the Chennai Metropolitan Area Groundwater (Regulation) Act of 1987 mandates that any person who wants to extract groundwater for any purpose other than domestic and transport it through lorries should make an application to…

Mumbai, July 2005. Surat, August 2006. Chennai, December 2015. All these cities have shown us the costs of disregarding and abusing our urban commons and wetlands, which used to be referred to in Taamizh language with respect, using a special term: Poromboke. The question is, are we willing to see and learn? Every instance of heavy rainfall in a city reminds us what happens when our urban development authorities and administration ignore the rivers and wetlands in our cities. Rivers Remember: #ChennaiRains and the Shocking Truth of a Manmade Flood by Krupa Ge is one more stark pointer. The book…