City: Chennai

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…

An increase in Floor Space Index along metro and transport corridors in Chennai could well see an accelerated increase in the number of high rises in the city and a boom in real estate prices. The city is expected to see more horizontal and vertical growth in the coming years. Any construction in the city must have planning permits and building plan approval failing which it would be deemed illegal. Here is a handy guide on all you need to know about obtaining the requisite permissions and approvals in Chennai for various categories of construction. Authority for approval of building plan…

T Nagar Skywalk to be inaugurated in June A skywalk connecting Mambalam Railway Station to T Nagar Bus Stand will be inaugurated in June after a delay of one year. The project costing Rs 27 crore began in December 2020, and was supposed to be completed in 15 months. However, due to pending dues from contractors, the COVID-19 pandemic, and various design related interventions, the project was delayed.  The project comes under the Smart Cities Plan, and aims to reduce the congestion in Usman Road and Ranganathan Street, which sees a high footfall of more than 5000 passengers who use…

The state government is back to what it does best – renaming Chennai roads. There is of course the other thing they do equally well – unnecessary ‘beautification’ of neighbourhoods but we will not go into that. At least not just now. Since these are times when being critical of anybody in power usually means inviting the accusation that we are in the pay of the Opposition, let us assure everyone that we were equally critical when the previous regime did the same. Overall, the road-renaming exercise is one of the most wasteful activities possible, but State Governments do not…

While the pandemic saw some slump in ridership, the patronage seen by Chennai Metro has been on the rise in recent months. With all lines in Phase I and its extensions operational, the Metro saw a footfall of 1.5 lakhs on a daily basis for the month of April.  Proposed measures such as the merger of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) with the Metro could further boost connectivity in the city and create an integrated public transport system. Phase II of Chennai Metro, which will link key areas such as the IT corridor to the rest of the city,…