City: Chennai

Is the Small Bus an opportunity or a liability for cash-strapped Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) in Chennai? All comments made by MTC on the question give the impression that the Small Bus service is a drain on the finances of the Corporation. The bus corporation says not many people are using it, and therefore it is being curtailed or withdrawn, while people say the service is not reliable and often simply vanishes without notice. This report in The Hindumentions some problems in the service, although it does not contain new information on what the present situation is on the ground. Failed connections The…

One of the pet peeves of residents in cities is the overnight digging up of freshly laid or previously serviceable roads for various utilities. The exercise almost always leaves the citizen frustrated as she suddenly wakes up to uneven roads, potholes and dangerously elevated pothole covers. Not only is a perfectly navigable road rendered dangerous and unusable, in many cases the people are unable to ever properly get these roads fixed. What can you do if this happens to your street? But before you come to that, it is important to know what the rules say. Permissions for road cuts  …

The warning bells have been ringing at a high note for quite some time now. Chennai has just gone through the longest spell of rainless days, as a result of which water levels in our water bodies are at an all time low, causing a severe drought. However the government of the day seems to be in absolute denial of any water crisis in Chennai, nor do their actions indicate any move towards a sustainable and resilient Chennai. Arappor Iyakkam has come forward to highlight this issue through people’s participation in a unique protest called ‘KeluChennaiKelu’ on June 30 2019…

Thick Avocado milkshake, Red wine from paneer grapes, different varieties of mango and Kiwi -- exotic fruits are never in short supply in our cities these days. But have you ever wondered where these fruits are grown? Has it ever occurred to you that the Lichi you eat may have come all the way from China to our very own Koyambedu market? That there are three varieties of grapes grown in different parts of Tamil Nadu itself? The era of globalisation has seen an explosion of various foods available in urban markets, but most consumers are unaware of the origin…

Chennai sees rain after almost 200 days Chennaites took to social media to express their happiness and celebrate the sudden showers that caught the city by surprise on Thursday. Though it lasted for a few minutes only, it brought some respite and hope for heat-struck, water-starved Chennai. The city has recorded more than 10 hot days so far this month, when the day temperature crossed 40 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, the quality of water in the city has changed to become very hard. As the water table too steadily declines, wells are being dug far too deep, leading to over-extraction, which…

Parched water bodies and empty pots along the lanes of Chennai illustrate the city’s unprecedented water crisis. While mismanagement by government departments and the poor Northeast monsoon have been touted as the primary reasons, let’s not forget our responsibility as citizens. In an attempt to provide solutions to Chennai’s water crisis, ADDA in collaboration with Citizen Matters, Chennai (a digital news media site that reports on urban issues) conducted a knowledge-sharing workshop on Saturday (June 22). More than 70 participants from the apartments of South Chennai, which rely largely on private water tankers, attended the sessions to understand various approaches…

Long queues of women and men waiting for their turn at the tanker; schools forced to shut down due to water shortage; companies asking employees to work from home and even patients in hospitals bearing the brunt of water  shortage -- these are not scenes from any dystopian novel or movie. This is the reality Chennai is living today. The situation gets worse by the day as the city finds itself in the grip of another spell of widespread and acute water shortage. The scarcity of water has seen the city’s main reservoirs run dry. Borewells are depleted and the…

Chennai is facing an unprecedented water crisis with the city’s main reservoirs running dry. The origins of the crisis lie in the failure of the North East monsoon on which the city relies heavily for its water needs. With 54% deficit in rainfall, the prognosis for the coming summer was dire. It required concerted efforts by authorities and citizens on war footing to mitigate what would certainly become one of the worst spells of water scarcity faced by the city. However, the lax attitude to the impending crisis meant that Chennaiites are now facing the full brunt of the mismanagement…

For a city as dense and expansive as Chennai, it is not surprising that the city corporation has its hands full in terms of public works, and particularly so in the area of waste management. According to the 2011 census, the population density is over 26,000 persons/sq km. The sheer number of households, not to mention offices and factories, ensures that the city generates a large amount of waste. That, however, is not an aberration even when one looks at the country as a whole. India is slated to become the third-largest consumer market globally by 2030. According to a…

Over 90% of suburban rail stations yet to get CCTV The shocking incident of another young woman hacked in the suburban station of Chetpet has turned the focus on security in many of the stations.  Following a similar incident in Nungambakkam station in 2016 where a woman techie was stabbed to death, the Railways had hurriedly installed a closed circuit televion (CCTV) camera  at the station. Railways sources have said that out of the 136 stations identified for CCTV coverage in 2011, only 8 have had them installed, while the work on the other stations have slowed down. Chetpet incidentally…