City: Chennai

Did you know that at least a hundred litres of water are used up in construction of one square foot of built-up area? In a growing city like Chennai, where you find some construction or the other going on whichever way you look, think of what that means for groundwater resources, which currently constitute the primary source of water supply for the requirements of this water-intensive industry.  In a city that is constantly under the shadow of a looming water scarcity, finding alternative, eco-friendly ways to reduce the burden on groundwater tables has never been more important. And that is what…

Picture this: a Miyawaki forest, a play area for children, a sculpture court and a pedestrian plaza along the Buckingham Canal, that now stands as just a conduit for sewage water amid squalid surroundings. But if plans on paper are implemented on the ground, the Buckingham Canal beautification project initiated by the Greater Chennai Corporation under the Smart City Mission, will soon transform the IT corridor (Rajiv Gandhi IT Expressway) stretch along the canal into upgraded, modern recreational spaces. Over the years, the Buckingham canal, which holds such an important place in the ecology of Chennai, has suffered the neglect…

The school education department has announced that September 1 could be the tentative date when schools reopen across Tamil Nadu. Following this, the Department of Public Health has issued a set of detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for school reopening, covering the various precautions and safety measures to be taken by school to prevent spread of COVID-19. General guidelines for school reopening SoPs along with IEC materials to be shared to school management.Sanitizers/soap with water to be made available by the concerned authorities .Schools (Government,Government aided and Private) have to open the campuses in phases, with such activities where they can easily adhere to social…

OMR-ECR link work begins In a bid to reduce bottlenecks along the key roads, the state highways department has begun construction work to connect Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) and East Coast Road (ECR) at Thoraipakkam junction. The construction work, estimated to cost Rs 204 crore, will connect Neelankarai directly with Thoraipakkam. The work will be carried out in two phases.The first phase, a 760 m stretch from Thoraipakkam to Buckingham Canal is underway. The road from the other side of the canal and a bridge will be constructed in the second phase. At present, OMR users use Lattice Bridge (LB)…

What started as a casual attempt at cycling with my brother’s cycle that was lying idle at home has become one of the best decisions I’ve made in recent times. When I took up cycling in February of 2020, I did not anticipate how rewarding the experience would be. Since then, cycling has given me a way to channel my energy, boost my endorphins and helped me on my weight loss journey. Having experienced these benefits myself, I would like to look into what makes cycling a great initiative, while also addressing the challenges that stand in the way of…

Sandhya R, a 3-year-old preschooler, gets distracted and restless every five minutes even while her online classes are underway. Her mother, R Saritha, an IT employee from Adyar, has to take a break from work often to pacify her and get her back to focussing on the screen. “Since my work is flexible, I have the advantage of being able to take breaks to attend to my daughter when she needs me. But online classes have been very challenging, as she is too young to concentrate on, or engage with, what is happening in these virtual classes,” shares Saritha, a…

Translated by Sandhya Raju தரமற்ற சாலைகள், மேடு பள்ளங்கள், சீரற்ற ஒட்டு வேலை செய்யப்பட்ட சாலைகள் ஆகியன சென்னையின் ஒரு அங்கம். புது சாலைகள் போடப்பட்டவுடன் அரசு நிறுவனங்களால் அவை தோண்டப்படுகிறது. இதனால், சாலையை சீரமைக்க புகார் அளிக்கப்பட்டாலும், பிற துறைகளின் மீது அதிகாரிகள் பழி சுமத்துகின்றனர். சென்னையில் சாலைகள் அமைப்பதில் உள்ள தொழில்நுட்பங்கள் குறித்து பொது மக்களின் அறியாமையே இதற்கு காரணம். சென்னையில் போடப்படும் சாலைகளின் வகைகள், அவற்றைப் பற்றி எங்கு புகார் செய்வது, பொதுமக்கள் எப்படி கண்காணிப்பது என்பது பற்றிய விளக்கங்கள் உங்களுக்காக இங்கே வழங்கியுள்ளோம். சென்னை சாலைகள் மற்றும் மாநகராட்சியின் பங்கு சென்னை மாநகராட்சியின் கீழ் இரண்டு வகையான சாலைகள் வருகின்றன. பேருந்து வழிதடங்கள் சாலைகள் (BRR): இரு சக்கர வாகனங்கள் முதல் கன ரக வாகனங்கள் வரை அனைத்து வகையான வாகனங்களும் செல்லும் சாலை. உதாரணமாக, காமராஜர் சாலை, ராதாகிருஷ்ணன் சாலை, வேளாச்சேரி சாலை(தரமணி…

With house rent of Rs 6,000 overdue and two children on the verge of dropping out from school due to her inability to arrange for fees, single mother R Sharmila is at the end of her tether. She is one of the hundreds of conservancy workers who were terminated by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), without any prior notice, earlier this year. In January, the civic body suspended the contract of 545 conservancy workers after the privatisation of 11 of the 15 zones in Chennai. Although they have been jobless for over six months now, the fired conservancy workers turn…

Two new COVID clusters identified in Chennai Two new clusters recording over 20 COVID cases have been identified in Chennai. On August 2nd, a religious gathering near Kilpauk turned out to be the first cluster that led to around 20 infections out of 275 samples.  An apartment complex in Sholinganallur has emerged as the second major cluster where 23 out of 398 samples tested positive. It was identified that the security personnel at the apartment were unvaccinated. A patient being admitted at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. Pic: Laasya Shekhar According to the civic body, there were three index…

How often do we concern ourselves with electricity issues? Well, a social media listening exercise reveals that there is a buzz around electricity topics in Chennai when consumers are faced with either interruptions in power supply or unusually high electricity bill.  In the last one month, citizens in Chennai took to social media about 1,634 times to write about their concerns around power cuts and an inflated electricity bill from the TNEB! Nearly 70% of the users posted about how their EB bills shocked them. 63.2K users shared and interacted with posts about inflated electricity bills.  Source: Author’s analysis via…