City: Chennai

42 km on average, a commute of 2 hours, and three buses. This is what a majority of children from the resettlement colonies in Chennai have to navigate to reach their schools. Everyday is a struggle, as they commute in overcrowded buses, where they are often barely able to get a foot on the footboard. It has been close to two years since 6310 families from 28 settlements alongside Cooum River were relocated to the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) houses in Gudapakkam (Thiruvallur district), All India Radio (Chennai) Navalur and Perumbakkam in Kancheepuram district. But their lives are yet…

With storage levels dipping,  Krishna water likely to ease Chennai’s thirst With water storage levels dipping at the city’s major reservoirs, it is a grim situatioin as it may only feed the city for a month. But the good news is that the city will start receiving 2 TMC of Krishna water anytime now.  As per the 1983 agreement between the two states, 12 tmcft water should be supplied to Chennai of which  8 tmcft should have come between July and October. Lack of adequate inflow in the waterbodies of Andhra Pradesh was cited for the delay in releasing water…

Despite a government order directing State Road Transport Offices (RTO) across India to issue Driving Licences to the hearing-impaired, and court orders to the effect, the ground reality seems to be the exact opposite. RTOs still follow age-old rules to grant (or not grant, in this case) an opportunity to obtain the learners' Licence (LLR) and eventually, a driver's licence to people with hearing challenges. At least that's what my recent experience has shown. RTO apathy I recently accompanied a hearing-impaired person to an RTO in Chennai, hoping for him to obtain a Learner's License (LLR). Here is a brief overview…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities M Karthik, Chennai-based software engineer was mighty pleased when he purchased his 350cc Royal Enfield Classic from a showroom in Anna Nagar. But his excitement was considerably muted when he found out that his make of vehicle was among the highest polluting two-wheelers available. Deeply environmentally conscious, Karthik says, “Had I known that my vehicle emits such a lot of greenhouse gases, I would have changed my decision.” But how would he know? Is there really a way for vehicle owners to gauge the emissions from the…

 போக்குவரத்து காவல் துறை Vs குடிமக்கள் : பொறுப்பு மற்றும் உரிமை சமீபத்தில் போக்குவரத்து காவல் அதிகாரி லஞ்சம் கேட்டு ஒரு இளைஞரை அடித்த சம்பவம் சமூக வலைத்தளத்தில் பரவலாக பகிரப்பட்டு அதன் தொடர்ச்சியாக காவல்துறை ஆணையர் பாதிக்கப்பட்டவரை சந்தித்து ஆறுதல் கூறியது அனைவரும் அறிந்ததே.   போக்குவரத்து அதிகாரிகளுக்கும் ஓட்டுனர்களுக்கும் நடக்கும் இது போல சம்பவங்கள் புதிதல்ல. இதற்கு முன் வலை பதிவில் உலா வந்த வீடியோ ஒன்று, தலைகவசம் அணியாததற்காக காவல் துறை ஒன்று நபரை அடித்து உதைத்த விதத்தை சுட்டி காட்டியது. இது போன்ற தருணத்தை எவ்வாறு எதிர்கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்பதையும், நம் உரிமை மற்றும் பொறுப்பு ஆகியவற்றை அறிந்து கொள்வதன் மூலம் மேலும் இந்த நிகழ்வுகளை இனியும் நடக்காமல் தடுக்க முடியும். என்ன செய்ய வேண்டும்: சரியான அதிகாரியால் தான் நீங்கள் நிறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளீர்களா என்பதை முதலில் அறிந்து கொள்ளுங்கள். அதிகாரிகள் சீருடையில் இருப்பதோடு அவர்களின் பெயர்…

37 Chennai areas listed as highly vulnerable to north east monsoon With the onset of the north east monsoon expected soon, the Tamil Nadu Government has identified 321 areas across 14 districts of the State as 'highly vulnerable', out of which 37 are in Chennai. Water stagnation in these areas are expected to be above 5 feet. Other districts with a concentration of highly vulnerable areas are Kancheepuram (84), the Nilgiris (68), Cuddalore (37), Thiruvallur (29), Kanyakumari (22) and Nagapattinam (21). According to the report cited above, there are 3,055 vulnerable locations in all in the 14 districts, out of which 306…

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,…