City: Chennai

On Monday, March 20, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister, Dr Palanivel Thiaga Rajan presented the budget for 2023-24 in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. The budget has a slew of announcements in store for Chennai, with the focus firmly on infrastructure, health, skill development and river restoration.  Reduction in revenue deficit and an improvement in the Tax-GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) ratio were some key highlights of the budget. Improvement in these parameters is vital for the state to be able to implement its welfare schemes, many of which are being piloted in Chennai before their expansion across the state. Budget places…

Translated by Sandhya Raju பிளாஸ்டிக் பைகள், உபயோகப்பட்ட டயப்பர்கள், வீணாக்கப்பட்ட உணவுகள், சில சமயம் உபயோகப்பட்ட மருத்துவ ஊசிகள். இது போன்ற பொருட்களை தினந்தோறும் தன் பணியின் போது பிரிக்கிறார் தூய்மை பணியாளர் ரமேஷ்*. “கைகள் வெயர்த்து போகும் என்பதால் எப்பொழுதும் நாங்கள் கையுறையை உபயோகிப்பதில்லை,” என்கிறார் ரமேஷ்.  இது போன்ற கடுமையான சூழலில் சொற்ப சம்பளத்திற்கு தான் நகரத்தில் தூய்மை பணியாளர்கள் வேலை செய்கிறார்கள். பெரும் சவாலாக உள்ள போக்குவரத்து பெரும்பாலான தூய்மை பணியாளர்கள் தங்கள் இருப்பிடத்திலிருந்து வெகு தூரம் பணிக்கு செல்ல வேண்டியுள்ளது.    “காலையில் 3 மணிக்கு எழுந்து, சமைத்து, வீட்டை சுத்தம் செய்து, இரண்டு பேருந்து மாறி பணியிடத்திற்கு செல்ல வேண்டும். காலை 6-6.30 மணிக்குள் பயோமெட்ரிக்கில் வருகையை பதிவு செய்ய வேண்டும். ஐந்து நிமிடம் தாமதானாலும், எங்கள் மேற்பார்வையாளர் வீட்டிற்கு திருப்பி அனுப்பி விடுவார் அல்லது அந்த நாள் சம்பளத்தை பிடித்தம் செய்து…

Chennai had an earthquake scare on February 22nd, where people in Anna Nagar and Anna Salai alleged that they felt mild tremors. This triggered a panicked reaction among the people who came running out of their buildings and waited on the streets till they felt safe enough to return indoors. But the incident turned out to be a false alarm. However, if there is an actual emergency, how many of us know what needs to be done? Having a robust disaster management plan and training residents to be aware and equipped for emergencies becomes a pressing need in the era…

No water or sewer connections for a decade in Sholinganallur It has been 10 years since the Sholinganallur Assembly Constituency was made part of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). But there has been a dearth of piped water and sewerage infrastructure in those areas to date. Residents demanded immediate action on these issues and staged a protest in Thoraipakkam on 12th March. The residents shared their concerns about the lack of water supply and sewerage in the IT Corridor, and how private tanker lorries are hampering the projects in this part of Chennai. The protesting residents were provided assurance by…

Efforts have been made to create a positive perception of schools run by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) with the aim of making the prospect of studying in these schools attractive. There has been an increase in enrollment in GCC-run schools in Chennai on the back of these moves and largely driven by the economic toll of COVID-19. While there is a clamour for smart classrooms and the creation of model schools in the city, many GCC-run schools continue to function without basic infrastructure such as an adequate number of classrooms, working toilets and usable and safe playgrounds. Teachers in…

Chennai saw the flood of the century in 2015. Four years on, in 2019, the city came to a standstill as the main reservoirs ran dry and Chennai hit 'Day Zero'. The city's fraught relationship with water has affected the lives of millions with no permanent solution in sight. In an interview with Citizen Matters Chennai, Dr S Janakarajan, the President of the South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies (SaciWATERs), Hyderabad and former Professor and Director at Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), unpacks the issues with water management in Chennai that has led to both flooding and…

Around 20 years ago, Kannan*, was a 20-year-old youngster taking up odd jobs to support his family in Chennai's Tambaram. He had dropped out of school. It was around this time that he came to know of an ongoing recruitment drive for a government job. The essential qualification for this job was to have a good lung capacity to be able to hold one's breath underwater. When Kannan showed up for the test, he found that the challenge was not in being able to hold his breath but rather, it was the water he was dealing with. He had been…

Arun Kumar’s daily commute from Ashok Pillar to Thiruvanmaiyur is fraught with danger. “I am at the risk of being hit by one or the other vehicle while walking on the road,” he says. "With the stormwater drain work, many footpaths that existed earlier have vanished. Now that we are forced to share road space with vehicles," he says. Vulnerable groups such as pedestrians, cyclists and persons with disabilities share these harrowing experiences navigating the city. Data released by the Greater Chennai Traffic Police in February shows that 35% (179 of the 508 people) of casualties caused by road accidents…

Private operators to ply 500 buses in Chennai For the first time in its history, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has approved the Gross Cost Contract/Public-Private Partnership model to rope in private operators to own and ply private buses in Chennai. A tender has been floated by the MTC in this regard. While the MTC operates as many as 3,400 buses catering to 29.5 lakh passengers every day, the Chennai Sustainable Urban Services Programme (C-SUSP), the World Bank-funded Chennai City Partnership (CCC), as part of which the MTC has adopted the new model, aims to increase the number of buses…

Plastic wrappers, soiled diapers and sanitary pads, food waste, and sometimes a used syringe. The bare hands of Ramesh*, a conservancy worker in Chennai, sift through these items inside discarded by residents as he tries to segregate waste on a daily basis. "We do not always use gloves because our hands sweat and become clammy," says Ramesh. This is one among myriad issues faced by a majority of the city’s conservancy workers who work under harsh conditions for meagre pay. Commute a key issue for conservancy workers in Chennai A majority of the conservancy workers are assigned work in areas…