City: Chennai

It was recently announced that Care Earth Trust, in association with Nature Conservancy India and IIT-Madras, is in talks with the government agencies and stakeholders to bring back life in Sembakkam lake. As the preliminary work to restore the lake begins, members of Sarvamangala Nagar Association in Chitlapakkam met Jayashree Venkatesan of Care Earth Trust recently for assistance to the neighbourhood in rejunevating Chitlapakkam lake.  Organisations such as these, representing citizens from various parts of Chitlapakkam and Sembakkam, are regularly engaged in dialogues and discussion with the Public Works Department, Revenue Administration, Disaster Management and Mitigation Department, Chennai Smart Cities Ltd.;…

Corporation begins work on T Nagar Pedestrian plaza Bhoomi pooja was performed near the Thyagaraya Road – Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Salai junction, to begin work on the T Nagar pedestrian plaza as part of the Smart City project. The project, estimated at ₹33.80 crore will include an exclusive pedestrian pathway for senior citizens, children and differently-abled people. Other facilities include children’s play area, upgraded toilet facilities, resting places for  shoppers and pedestrians, decorative lamps, fountains and crossing area. Speaking to News Today, a senior official of Chennai Corporation said, “as part of Smart City project, work is already under progress at various…

Amidst all the political and other developments in the state, one thing that went largely unnoticed was the withdrawal of urad dhal from the Public Distribution System. While there has been no official gazette notification to this effect, it appears that the particular pulse has for a long time not been available for distribution. Conversations with beneficiaries bring out the situation on the ground and the impact. Beneficiaries across Chennai have raised their voices on the non availability of not only urad dhal, but also sometimes sugar and other items as well. In this context, it is important to understand…

Namma Chennai App to the rescue of residents, yet a long way to go Since the launch of the Namma Chennai App in January, Greater Chennai Corporation is witnessing a steady flow of complaints. As many as 3000 complaints have been received so far and officials say they act on the complaints swiftly. Poor street lighting, Pavement encroachments, abandoned cars  are some of the issues that are getting the attention of the officials.  As on May 4, the app had seen 8000  downloads on Google Play store, and it has also been introduced in the iOS store. Source : Times…

A Children-centric Chennai school Unkempt buildings, broken toilets, steep absenteeism and disinterested students? Fits your idea of a government or Corporation school? Think again. Perceptions and ideas develop over time and, once hardened, it is rather difficult to demolish them. While there’s no denying the fact that such schools continue to exist, the opposite holds true as well. And, one such example is the Chennai High School in Kottur. With a renewed focus on obliterating absenteeism and moulding well rounded individuals, the team of teachers led by an inspiring and resourceful Head Mistress is making heads turn. Tackling absenteeism in…

A malnourished boy, in shabby clothes, stood trembling in fear at the Chennai Central Railway station. Unaware of the surroundings and people, he sat in silence at the railway station for hours. Only when the Railway Protection Force (RPF) employees initiated a conversation, did he open up about his risky escape from a confectionery unit in Karnataka. The 17-year-old boy, a resident of Virudhunagar district in Tamil Nadu, was coaxed into work by a middle man, when he was barely 13. The promise of a decent job and good salary soon turned sour, as the boy was forced to work…

Pigs hogging the food waste, a few empty tablet sheets flying around and a muddy road reduced in width to almost half, thanks to the garbage overflowing from three bins -- this was the sight that greeted me at the approach to the Voluntary Health Services (VHS) hospital at Taramani on an evening in the second week of April. The VHS hospital is known for taking health care to the poorer sections of the society, and boasts of various upgraded departments including the neurological department and maternity ward, but on this occasion it certainly  appeared that it had a long way to…

Chennai taps go dry already With major reservoirs supplying water to Chennai holding enough water only for the next four months, several pockets of Chennai are already seeing water cuts ahead of the severe shortfall that will arise this summer. Though December 2015 floods had filled up the lakes and reservoirs and increased the groundwater table, it has not helped much in salvaging the crisis. The north east monsoon which is the main source for the state was deficient by 62 percent last year. With acute heat waves already setting in, experts warn of a severe summer ahead and the…

The Tamil Nadu government’s decision to expand the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) to eight times its current size has earned a fair share of criticism from city activists and residents. This became particularly evident during the public consultative meeting organised by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) recently. Even though the second master plan for Chennai, proposed in 2008, has proved to be a damp squib, the state government had, via a notification in January 2018,  proposed to expand CMA from the current 1,189 sq.km to a whopping 8,878 sq.km.  The proposal, if implemented, will urbanise a total of 1,709 villages…

Since its launch in November 2017, the Kuppai Thiruvizha has been in the news for all the right reasons, evincing phenomenal support from the denizens of different parts of the city, both online and on the ground. While the first thiruvizha was very successful for a flagship effort, we had to rethink the outreach strategy before the next one, to make the initiative more participatory and inclusive and amplify its reach to a wider range of actors. Core members of the alliance, including representatives from CAG, Urban Design Collective, Arappor Iyakkam, Vettiver Collective, etc., convened one fine morning and dissected the different aspects of…