City: Chennai

Mayilsamy, a street vendor in Purasaiwalkam who sells toys and trinkets, remembers when the news of the single-use plastic ban broke.  “I tried to tell my customers to bring their own bags,” says Mayilsamy. “But very few people brought them.” In January of 2019, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) imposed a ban against the use of almost all single-use plastic (SUP) products in the state. The ban is one of many measures brought about to reduce the presence of harmful plastic products. Since the ban, the Pollution Control Board, along with other agencies such as the Greater Chennai…

People make a landscape their city and their home. Garden City, Victory City, Steel City and many such identities are rightfully linked with urban centres across the country. When there is a mention of the most rainfall, our mind immediately travels to our middle school textbook pages that introduced us to Cherrapunjee. Water is said to be an element of nature with a memory. Often, the best of our memories of nature also happen to be related to water. The first time the waves crashed at our feet, the first time we took a dip in that meandering river, the…

MRTS operations on one line suspended temporarily MRTS services between Beach - Chintadripet will be suspended for a period of seven months. The suspension will be in effect from August 27. The Southern Railways has undertaken the decision to pause services in order to carry out work on the fourth line between Beach - Egmore. For the duration of the suspension, the trains from Beach - Velachery will run from Chintadripet - Velachery. The number of services along the line will drop from 122 to 80. Commuters can expect trains at a duration of 15 to 20 minutes. In order…

Black, foul-smelling, stagnant water - this is what one will find when they go in search of the Mambalam Canal which was once one of the significant freshwater canals in the city.  In its heydays, the canal used to carry surplus water from two major tanks - the Nungambakkam tank and the Mambalam tank - that existed some four decades ago. Due to urbanisation, the entire watershed area of these tanks now has residential and commercial establishments in it.  The path followed by the original canal starts near Valluvar Kottam and passes through T Nagar and CIT Nagar before draining…

Just a few months before I was due to leave for Chennai, my aunt from India gave me a heartfelt pep talk, if you can even call it that. I think maybe a slap in the face and a “wake the hell up” talk would be more appropriate.  I got the usual spiel: Don’t eat street food. Don’t drink just any water. Mosquitoes? Malaria? You will be covered in a pool of sweat the moment you step outside. Absolutely no walking alone at night, and how the hell are you going to cross the street?  Towards the end of our…

A few months ago, the usually bumpy 4th Main Road in Thiruvanmiyur became completely unnavigable. The road turned much worse than its usual state thanks to the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board’s (CMWSSB) apparent quest to dig up most roads in the city. Metro water workers removed the entire central section of the road, leaving two narrow strips on either side, seemingly only for very thin men on bicycles to pass. Road cut work had left a missing strip at the center of the road in Thiruvanmiyur. Pic: Ramiah Ariya Of these, the left-hand strip had at least…

In July of 2022, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) introduced the ‘Shoreline Renourishment and Revitalization Project,’ a large-scale version of many beach beautification projects introduced in past. The overall project will cover just over 50 km of Chennai’s coastline with various sections being developed along various themes. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has been constituted to carry out the project with the body comprising officials from various departments. Chennai citizens have consistently brought forth concerns surrounding beach beautification projects in past years, mainly as it had to do with fisherfolk and the environment.  Will the planning for the extensive…

Telemedicine services launched at RGGGH Chennai’s largest government hospital, the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, has rolled out telemedicine services for various specialities. The consultations will take place between Monday to Saturday. The departments that are covered include paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, dermatology, surgery, general medicine and geriatrics. The teleconsultation service will be available from 9 am to 12 noon. The service can be availed by those who are over 18 years of age. The departments will operate on staggered timings each day for six days of the week. The service has been launched with a view to help elderly…

"I studied in a government school and grew up in a place where there were no basic amenities. So I know the struggles of the people in my Ward through lived experience and I strive to make life easy for them," says A Priyadharshini of Ward 98 in Chennai, the youngest Councillor in Chennai. Politics is very much part of Priyadharshini's family. "Both my mother and father are members of the Communist Party of India(Marxist) for more than 25 years. I was also part of the Students Federation of India (SFI) during my school days. Later, during my college days,…

"My children's certificates, the first ever bike my son got on his own and our wedding album was among the many important things that we saw float away when more than 12 feet of water entered our home," says Varadharajan as he recalls the nightmares of the 2015 Chennai floods. Varadharajan lives on the floodplains of Mudichur Lake in Chennai which was one of the worst hit areas during the 2015 floods when the water was released from Chembarambakkam lake into Adyar river.  The 2015 floods came as a wake-up call for the government and the residents of Chennai. Since…