City: Chennai

Few things are more active than a WhatsApp group used by suburban residents in Chennai to lodge complaints. The group serves as a platform for residents to voice their problems, leading to debates and polls. Loud calls for action often rally the entire online community to react with a series of ‘thumbs-up’ emojis. However, it is rare for these proposed solutions to extend beyond the online realm, and even rarer for residents to take tangible steps towards implementing them. But, here is a group that went beyond registering complaints and solved a long-term traffic issue with collective activism, in Kumarasamy…

KP பார்க்கில் உள்ள 13 மாடி குடியிருப்பின் எட்டாவது மாடியில்  தனது வீட்டிலிருந்து வெளியே செல்ல புறப்பட்டார் ச. கணேசன் (வயது 52). எப்போதும் போல மின் தூக்கியில் ஏறியவரை, உயிர் இல்லாத சடலமாகத்தான் மீட்கமுடிந்தது. ச. கணேசன் (வயது 52). Pic: Sakthi Vel N ஆறாவது மற்றும் ஏழாவது மாடியினிடையில் மின்தூக்கி செயலிழந்துவிட்ட நிலையில், அவரை வெளியேற்ற முயற்சி செய்து கொண்டிருந்தபோது, கால் தவறி ஏழாவது மாடியில் இருந்து கீழே விழுந்து உயிரிழந்தார் கணேசன். இம்மரணம் சம்பவித்து ஒரு மாதமான நிலையில், அங்கிருந்து 3 கிமீ தொலைவில் அமைந்திருக்கும் TT பிளாக் குடியிருப்புவாசிகளுக்கு மிகுந்த அச்சத்தை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளது. “போன மாசம் KP பார்க் ல நடந்த சம்பவம் எங்களுக்கும் நடக்கணுமா? 13 மாடி கட்டடம் எங்களுக்கு எதுக்கு?” என்று கேட்கிறார்கள் அம்மக்கள். Read more: Chennai’s decades-long policy failure to address housing issues of the…

A drive on some of the roads in Ward 188 can be quite challenging, as many of them are in a state of disrepair or in various stages of construction. One of the reasons for the bad condition of roads here are the many development projects being executed simultaneously in major localities such as Madipakkam and Ram Nagar. These include work on stormwater drains, underground sewage lines and Metro Water connections. These projects are being put in place to mitigate flooding, a major concern in this part of the city, and to upgrade the area. Once a small village panchayat,…

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) implemented the Solid Waste Management Rules in 2016. The following year, it passed directions for bulk waste generators (including apartment complexes and gated communities) in Chennai to process their waste inside their premises. "Seven years down the line, very few bulk waste generators in Chennai are following the norms," points out P Natarajan, Founder of Namma Ooru Foundation in our earlier article. KGEYES Homes in Chennai's Besant Nagar is a 25-year-old residential complex with 36 dwelling units. Similar to many other apartment complexes in the neighbourhood, residents here did not adhere to the waste management…

For years, long-time residents of Chennai, who bought plots in a suburban township in Tharapakkam, had to endure many hardships before they could rightfully claim their land. However, they did not give up. And now, there is a glimmer of hope as the persistence of the landowners has borne fruit. The local panchayat has also agreed to extend support, so that they can build their dream homes. In 2006, EVP Housing Pvt Ltd released colour advertisements in newspapers and distributed flyers offering plots for sale in Tharapakkam. These plots would form a township known as the EVP Township, situated five…

Source segregation of waste was a relatively new phenomenon in Chennai six years ago. Today, awareness and support of the process have only grown, but not without tireless citizen-led efforts. The Residents of Kasturba Nagar Association (ROKA) started its waste segregation programme in 2019, and improved their system, taking lessons from a neighbourhood initiative in Bengaluru. Now, other neighbourhoods in Chennai seek advice from ROKA on how to set up their own waste segregation systems. ROKA launched the ‘We Segregate’ programme in October 2023. The goal is to provide the systems and technology necessary to segregate waste in Kasturba Nagar…

Chennai was one of the first cities in India to get selected under the Smart City Mission. The objective of the ambitious Central Government programme was to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens; a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘smart’ solutions. But, the benefits of the programme for Chennai residents have been limited. While projects like the bicycle lanes and vertical gardens were a failure, the multi-level parking scheme remains underutilised. In April this year, when we spoke to a few experts on the Smart City projects implemented…

The atmosphere is lively on a summer Friday evening at the Kathipara Urban Square in Chennai. Despite the oppressive heat and humidity of the coastal city, people find relief in the evening breeze. They are milling about at open café tables, grabbing ice cream, browsing a used book store, or watching their children play on the swings. A toy train circles the plaza, while metro trains and cars speed on the lanes above. This multi-use urban square is situated beneath a busy elevated road junction adjacent to a major metro station. Envisaged as a multi-modal transit hub by the Chennai…

Chennai generates as much as 6,300 metric tonnes of garbage every day. Of this, 60% of the waste is biodegradable — which means that if we segregate the waste properly at source this 60% could be prevented from going to the landfills and eventually turning into legacy waste. Like any other metro city, Chennai also faces many challenges in the management of solid waste. The first part of this series delved into the challenges that Chennai faces in segregating waste at source. In the second part, Dr J Radhakrishnan, Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner, talks to Citizen Matters about various issues…

Vasanthi Kannan resides in a Kodambakkam apartment complex with eight units. She has spent nearly three decades as a civic activist, tirelessly advocating for household waste segregation. Despite her efforts, she remains the sole resident in her building, who segregates waste, before handing it over to the sanitation workers. In Pulianthope, a locality with 2,000 households, adherence was the issue. "The government distributed two bins to every household in 2020 and asked the residents to segregate the waste before handing it to sanitation workers. Initially, there was some compliance, but without strict enforcement, the initiative failed," says Selavaraj M, Founder…