City: Chennai

How and why. Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials seem to be deliberately ignoring these two important questions, while executing the infrastructure projects. The ill-planned beautification work at Besant Nagar only bears that out. Besant Nagar (or Elliots) beach, with its fragile sandy coastal ecosystem, stares at destruction, thanks to all the work being carried out in the name of modernisation. Having received funds from the Tourism Ministry under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the civic body is all set to develop the beach as a mini tourist destination. The resulting slew of ongoing construction activities at Bessie appears to be disorganised and…

Submission of self declaration forms for revised property tax has been in the news for more than a month now. Despite multiple reports and clarifications by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials, there is still palpable uncertainty among citizens about the whole procedure. In an earlier article on the topic, Citizen Matters Chennai had explained the nitty gritty of self declaration and the procedure to submit these forms. Since then, the last date for submission of forms, has been revised to September 16th. As several questions continued to pour in from our readers, we met R Lalitha, IAS,  Deputy Commissioner,…

Registration department adopts biometrics for return of documents To ensure transparency and speedy processing, the registration department has introduced biometric processing, enabling return of documents within 2 working days from the sub-registrar office.  Earlier,it could take upto three months for a buyer to get back the documents post registration of their property. Meanwhile, the department has also introduced First In First Out (FIFO) system to  eliminate discretionary prioritisation of registration. The time slots would be alloted at the time of online registration. Source:  New Indian Express | The Times of India Awareness Campaign for Rain Water Harvesting Chennai Metrowater will…

Kerala’s devastating floods in August set off alarm bells in Tamil Nadu. Municipal Administration minister S P Velumani chaired a state-level flood prevention review meeting on August 21st, around one-and-half months before the expected commencement of the north east monsoon in the first week of October. A slew of infrastructural projects were flagged off as part of monsoon preparatory work, including the desilting of storm water drains at a cost of Rs 20 crore and clearing of encroachments in water bodies. Preparatory work for the monsoon is usually taken up only a few weeks before the onset of the season,…

Chennai is home to not just one, but two reserve forests - the Pallikaranai wetland and the Nanmangalam scrub forest. Located along the Tambaram-Velachery Main Road, the Nanmangalam Reserve Forest is among the last remaining havens of the ‘Vandalur scrub’, the original natural forest of this landscape. While it might be difficult to tie the seemingly disparate scrub and forest together, the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests (as they are also known) with their short, small leaved trees and thorny shrubs indigenous to South-East India are best equipped to survive the local climatic conditions. The scrub and its diversity Spanning around…

Can you travel from Kodambakkam in South Chennai to Dasaprakash on Poonamallee High Road (E.V.R Periyar High Road) at just Rs. 14, throwing in a short hop on the Chennai Metro also? Surprisingly, this is what the ride costs. If you are anywhere in a radius of 500 to 800 metres of the Kodambakkam Suburban Rail Station, it is just a ten minute walk to get there. With a five rupee ticket, you reach Chennai Egmore, where there a convenient transit point to the Chennai Metro. Without really stepping out of the complex, you reach the Metro station, and swiping your card,…

Chennai is eyeing significant strides in the coming months in solid waste management and implementation of environmental initiatives such as the plastic ban. Much of the possible success of these efforts hinges on the willingness and commitment of residents to comply with regulations and in some cases, their ability to go beyond the mandate to do their bit. To commend community initiatives of this nature, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has instituted a Green Award for recognized Resident Welfare Associations (RWA). A spokesperson of the PCB said that the initiative seeks to encourage residents to take part in environment-friendly efforts and…

A tiny kiosk on the congested DF Road in Mogappair bustles with customers on any week day. R Dakshinamurthy, the owner of the kiosk stall wears a smiling face, as he infuses tea leaves in the aluminum container and lets it brew for a few minutes. His happy face turns anxious whenever a police official walks towards the stall or passes by. Dakshinamurthy is an unauthorized vendor, who has been running the kiosk since three years ago, braving the constant threat of extortion from police and opposition from civil society. He is among the 27,050 vendors waiting for biometric cards…

உறுப்பு தானத்தில் முன்னோடியாக திகழ்கிறது நம் தமிழ்நாடு. இங்கு தான் அதிகமாக உறுப்பு தானம் செய்பவர்கள் உள்ளனர். மருத்துவமனைகள், தன்னார்வ தொண்டு நிறுவனங்களின் கூட்டு முயற்சி மற்றும் மக்களின் விருப்பம் ஆகியவை இதற்கு காரணிகளாக இருக்கலாம். இருப்பினும் நம்மில் பலருக்கு உறுப்பு தானம் பற்றிய பல விஷயங்கள் தெரியாமல் தான் உள்ளது. இதுவே உறுப்பு தானத்திற்காக காத்திருக்க வேண்டிய அவகாசத்தை அதிகரிக்க செய்கிறது. ஒவ்வொரு வருடமும் உறுப்பு கிடைக்காததால் கிட்டதிட்ட ஐந்து லட்சம் பேர் இறந்து போவதாக என்டிடிவி-ஃபார்டிஸ் மோர் டூ கிவ் விழிப்புணர்வு பிரச்சாரம் கூறுகிறது. பல்வேறு தவறான புரிதல் காரணமாக உறுப்பு தானம் செய்வதில் மக்களுக்கு தயக்கம் இருப்பதையே இந்த பிரச்சாரம் உணர்த்துகிறது. மருத்துவர்கள் மற்றும் சுகாதார ஆர்வலர்களுடன் உரையாடியதிலிருந்து உறுப்பு தானம் குறித்த விளக்கமும், அது குறித்து பல சந்தேகங்களையும் இங்கே தெளிவு படுத்தியுள்ளோம். மேலும் ஏன் உறுப்பு தானம் செய்ய வேண்டும் என்ற முக்கிய கேள்விக்கான…

TN Smart – an app for real time flood alert Later this month, the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority will launch a real time web app that will provide flood alerts across the state for better response management. The app will collate data based on the information available about earlier disasters, and will predict the impact of weather forecast. It is expected to be ready before on the onset of North east monsoon. TN-SMART (Tamil Nadu - System for Multi-hazard potential impact Assessment and Emergency Response Tracking  initiative would be in line with World Meteorological Organisation’s Global Framework for…