City: Chennai

For the past 21 years I have used the Chennai Airport for domestic and international travels. Over the years, I have noticed many dysfunctional elements that tarnish the airport experience for many passengers. This is especially true for those who are not used to airports and the processes involved. Even as Chennai airport sees heavy footfall and connects many important destinations, the maintenance of the airport and the facilities for passengers leave a lot to be desired. When you combine all the road-blocks one encounters, the airport can sometimes appear as a ‘death-trap’, where it is extremely difficult to get…

Chennai suburbs to see basic street rate reduction The Greater Chennai Corporation council passed a resolution to reduce the basic street rate (BSR) component of property tax calculation for some suburban areas of Chennai. The BSR component will now be equal to or less than that of the core areas. Previously, the BSR component of the suburban areas was higher than some of the core areas, prompting protests by residents.  Residents of Alandur, Valsaravakkam, Ambattur, Thiruvottiyur and Madhavaram saw high BSR after the latest round of property tax revision whereby the rates were set higher than Nungambakkam and T Nagar.…

Ashok*, a first generation graduate hailing from Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, secured a job at a leading IT firm over a decade ago in Chennai. With the state capital being a dream destination for many from rural Tamil Nadu, he landed in Chennai with plenty of hopes and dreams.  As years passed, he gained experience but also realised that the pay scale for his role was much lower than what a professional with the same level of experience would get in Bengaluru and other metro cities. With nearly 12.5 years of experience, Ashok now works in a start-up IT…

Chennai’s potential in terms of harnessing rooftop solar energy is widely spoken about. The city has a rooftop solar potential of 1.38 GW, according to an April 2018 study by Greenpeace India. The domestic or residential segment by itself can account for a capacity of about 586.46MW which is 42.6% of the city’s solar energy potential.  While the picture seems promising on paper, Chennai is nowhere close to making use of the potential of rooftop solar energy in the residential segment for various reasons. In part 1 of the series, we brought to light how realtors in Chennai are flouting…

The Perambur railway station is the second oldest railway station in the city after Royapuram. The ISO 9000 certified station sees a footfall of 80,000 passengers every day with close to 80 Express Trains stopping at the station. But users and commuters have over the years noticed glaring issues in amenities available at the station. Members of Perambur Neighborhood Development Forum & Community Welfare Brigade, a citizens welfare group comprising residents in the area, had an opportunity to visit the Perambur Railway Station to conduct an audit on the infrastructure and the passenger amenities on offer. After carefully reviewing all the…

Ormes Road resident Dr Muralidharan was in for a rude shock when he tried to leave his home to attend to a medical emergency. The area outside his home had been dug up by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, leaving him no way to get his vehicle out quickly. Road digging in the locality that lasted for weeks had resulted in roads not being repaired and relaid. This has been the reality of many residents across Chennai as works by various agencies for stormwater drains, underground cables, water and sewage pipelines are being laid, relaid or repaired.  Road digging issues…

Pillion riders fined for not wearing helmet in Chennai Around 2000 pillion riders were fined by the Chennai Traffic Police for failure to wear helmets. The Police issues a statement mandating helmets for pillions starting Monday, May 23. The east zone saw the highest number of bookings at 844. The city traffic police aim to continue checks until 100% compliance of pillion riders wearing helmets is achieved. Those without helmets were fined Rs 100 and issued challans.  The high number of fatalities from road accidents among pillion riders has been a key factor in the stringent implementation of this rule.…

Translated by Sandhya Raju கோவிந்தசாமி நகரைச் சேர்ந்த 58 வயது ஜி கண்ணையன் தீக்குளித்த காட்சி சென்னை நகரையே உலுக்கியது. கட்டாய வெளியேற்றத்தை எதிர்த்து மே 8-ம் தேதி நடந்த போராட்டத்தில் இந்த விபரீத முடிவை எடுத்த அவர் மறுநாள் 90% தீக்காயங்கள் ஏற்பட்ட நிலையில் இறந்து விட்டதாக அறிவிக்கப்பட்டது. ஆக்கிரமிப்புகாரர்கள் என கூறி வெளியேற்ற உச்சநீதிமன்றம் பிறப்பித்த உத்தவரை கண்டித்து அந்தப்பகுதியை சேர்ந்த பலரைப் போலவே, இவரும் போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டார். ஏப்ரல் 29-ம் தேதி முதல் இதுவரை 116 வீடுகள் தரைமட்டம் ஆக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது, மேலும் 159 வீடுகளுக்கும் உத்தரவு பிறப்பிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. நீண்ட போராட்டம் நீர்நிலை மறுசீரமைப்பு, மெட்ரோ ரயில் பணிகள், சாலை விரிவாக்கம், அழகுபடுத்தும் பணிகள் மற்றும் ஸ்மார்ட் சிட்டி திட்டங்கள் ஆகியவை சென்னையில் 'கட்டாய வெளியேற்றப்படுவதற்கு' முக்கிய காரணங்களாக உள்ளன. இருப்பினும், கோவிந்தசாமி நகர் வெளியேற்றம் இதில் தனித்து நிற்கிறது. கோவிந்தசாமி நகரில் வசிப்பவர்களை ஆக்கிரமிப்பாளர்கள் என்று…

Rows of colourful plastic pots lined up before tanker lorries and a sea of people waiting near hand pumps had become defining images of Chennai’s water crisis in the summer of 2019. While the city has seen good monsoons and sufficient water in storage in the years since, little has changed in terms of regular supply for many residents of low-income communities across the city. “The water crisis we face is an all-seasonal issue and summer only worsens our living conditions,” says L Kamala, a 32-year-old resident of Pulianthope. She starts her day as early as 5 am. She cooks…

Eight-year-old Dhrona has keen interest in music. Unlike many of his peers, he does not attend a traditional school. His parents have chosen to nurture his talent by enrolling him in music theory classes and keyboard classes under the ABRSM board which comes under the Royal School of Music. He is one of many children in Chennai taking to homeschooling and unschooling for various reasons The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the landscape of schooling considerably. With consecutive lockdowns, school closures, a larger push to digitise various aspects of learning, new forms of education have started gaining popularity. Homeschooling allows for an…