City: Chennai

Poor quality roads, with stretches of potholes and uneven patchwork are a common sight in Chennai. Newly-laid roads are often dug up by government agencies shortly after. As a result, complaints pertaining to fixing roads take longer than needed as authorities perpetually shift the blame to other departments. This stems from the fact that citizens are generally unaware of the technicalities involved in laying roads in Chennai. Here is an explainer on the kind of roads laid in Chennai, where to complain about them, how we can escalate matters and how citizens can keep a watch.   Chennai roads and the…

For the fourth year in a row, air quality across Chennai City has been consistently poor, said researchers at Healthy Energy Initiative (India). On average, 24-hour samples collected from 20 locations across Chennai City in February-March 2021 exceeded the Indian 24-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM2.5 of 60 µg/m3 by 1.1 to 3.8 times. This study analysed the 24-hr air samples heavy metals in addition to for PM2.5. Locations sampled for the study included neighbourhoods that are industrial, commercial and residential in nature. The results of the study indicate that there is a need for the Chennai Corporation…

As the third COVID wave appears imminent in the country, robust communication strategies by government agencies become increasingly important. Public health messaging — in both form and content — is an extremely critical component of the response to a pandemic. Access to information about COVID guidelines, vaccination centres and helpline numbers posed a challenge during the first and second waves for a large section of the population, especially the digitally illiterate, marginalised and senior citizens. The avenues of information in the form of trusted media sources and bulletins from government websites seem to be unreachable for these categories. “Only a…

In a country like India it is impossible to live without community animals. Our thoughts, culture and religion do not consider humans as mutually exclusive from community animals, which include cattle and stray dogs and cats. I reside in Chennai and am associated with People for Animals, an organisation working for the welfare and rights of street animals. As animal caretakers, it is deeply saddening and horrific to witness an alarming number of cases of cruelty in our city and communities against street and pet animals. Often it does not stop there, but is in in fact extended to animal caretakers…

The pandemic has had a crushing impact on the educational framework of the country in various ways. One of the fall-outs has been the cancellation of Class XII (and Class X) final examinations by all the major boards of education in the country, in view of the aggressive second wave of COVID-19. However, under the said circumstances, each has come out with a different model of evaluation for Class XII students. The results of Tamil Nadu State Board Class XII were declared on June 19, 2021. For the first time ever, students got their results on their registered mobile number,…

Chennai fully vaccinates 15% of eligible population As on July 20th, data shows that Chennai has the highest percentage of vaccinated population in comparison with metro cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Hyderabad. While the eligible population of the city is 59.45 lakh, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has fully vaccinated 15% of it (9.11 lakh). The corporation credits the multipronged initiatives taken by them to reach the number. While people from the tele-counselling centres gave a reminder for people who were due for the second dose, the fever survey workers went door-to-door to reach the vulnerable population. The civic…

Translated by Sandhya Raju கடந்த 6 வருடங்களாக காரப்பாக்கம் பழைய மகாபலிபுரம் சாலையில் உள்ள வைகுண்ட் சுந்தரம் அடுக்குமாடி குடியிருப்பில் வசிக்கிறேன். தண்ணீர் லாரியை நம்பி தான் நாங்கள் உள்ளோம், அதுவும் கோடை காலத்தில் தண்ணீருக்காக நிறைய செலவிழப்போம். அதனால், தண்ணீர் உபயோகத்தை கண்காணிக்கவும், அதை பொறுத்து செலவை பகிரவும், வீணாக்கலை தடுக்கவும் எண்ணினோம். இதற்கான நல்ல நிலையான தீர்வாக நீர் மீட்டர் வழியை கண்டறிந்தோம். நீர் துயரங்கள் நகரம் விரிவாகும் போது, தண்ணீர் போன்ற அடிப்படை வசதிகளுக்கான தேவையும் அதிகரிக்கிறது. இது ஓ.எம்.ஆர் சாலையில் வசிப்பவர்களுக்கு வெகுவாக பொருந்தும். பெரு நகர எல்லைக்கு உட்பட்டிருந்தாலும் குழாய் வழி தண்ணீர் இன்னும் இல்லாத நிலையில், நாங்கள் இன்றும் தண்ணீர் லாரியை நம்பியே உள்ளோம். Read more: Why more Chennaiites should have water meters in their home பருவ காலம் பொறுத்து நீர் வினியோகம் வேறுபடும், மேலும்…

Nitrogen dioxide or NO2 pollution in Chennai is back to pre-pandemic levels, shows a recent report by the non-governmental environmental organization, Greenpeace India. In fact, among all the cities studied by the researchers, Chennai recorded the second highest spike over a year as lockdown conditions were relaxed.  Greenpeace studied NO2 levels in eight Indian cities using measurements made by the Tropomi sensor on Sentinel-5P satellite. The satellite observations of April 2020 and 2021 revealed a 125% spike in NO2 levels in Delhi followed by 94% in Chennai. This not only increases the vulnerability of citizens to respiratory and circulatory issues, but…

The fresh, glistening, almost seemingly transparent prawns caught from Ennore was once a prime delicacy for seafood lovers in the city. But that is merely the stuff of memories now. In place of the succulent prawns of the past, one can only find dark, fatty prawns that no longer feed as much on worms as on the fly ash deposited by the thermal power stations in the waters of Ennore. “Prawns caught from the rivers of Palaverkadu and Kosasthalaiyar saw huge demand, both locally and internationally. Ash-coloured prawns (Sambal era in Tamil) form the majority of the catch now and…

“Every thought plants a seed to one of your actions. Every good action will yield a consequence. The person who takes good steps every day, cannot help but reap a harvest of awesome results.” This quote by Robin Sharma stayed with me for a long time after I read it. It is true that a thought can be powered by positive action, to yield far reaching results. In fact, a recent volunteer-driven initiative in Chennai, the Chennai Volunteers COVID Resource Guide epitomises how citizens can come together, virtually, and create a movement to support fellow citizens in their time of need. Chennai Volunteers Resource…