City: Chennai

தாம்பரம் மாநகராட்சியானது, கடந்த 2023 ஆம் ஆண்டு மாநகராட்சி உட்பட்ட அனைத்து பகுதிகளுக்கும் 24x7 மணி நேரமும் தடையற்ற குடிநீர் விநியோகத்தை உறுதி செய்யும் வகையில் ஒரு விரிவான திட்ட அறிக்கையைத் தயார் செய்திருந்தது. அந்தத் திட்ட அறிக்கை செயல்பாட்டுக்கு முழுமையாக வருவதற்கு முன்பே, 2026 -யில் தற்போதைய மக்கள் தொகை, நகர்ப்புற வளர்ச்சி, எதிர்கால குடிநீர் தேவை, தற்போதைய உட்கட்டமைப்பு மற்றும் திட்ட செலவினங்களைக் கருத்தில் கொண்டு குடிநீர் திட்டத்திற்கான மீண்டும் ஒரு விரிவான திட்ட அறிக்கை (DPR) பணி மேற்கொள்ளப்படுவதாகவும், முதற்கட்டமாக செம்பாக்கம், மாடம்பாக்கம், சிட்லபாக்கம், திருநீர்மலை, பெருங்குளத்தூர், பீர்க்கங்கரணை ஆகிய ஆறு பகுதிகளை உள்ளடக்கிய குடிநீர் விநியோகத்திற்கு அரசு-தனியார் பங்கேற்பு (PPP) முறையில் ஆய்வு மற்றும் பரிந்துரை பணிகளை மேற்கொள்ளுவதற்கு அரசு அதிகாரப்பூர்வமாக டெண்டர் விட்டுள்ளது. மக்களின் அத்தியாவசியத் தேவைகளான குடிநீர் விநியோகத் திட்டத்தில் தனியார் பங்களிப்பை இணைப்பது குறித்து பொதுமக்களிடம் போதிய ஆலோசனை மற்றும் கருத்துக்கேட்பு…

In Chengalpattu district, the main water channels of the Kovalam-Nemmeli coastal wetland, which drains a catchment of more than 270 square kilometres, have currently been blocked. Barriers that obstruct water flow have been built across Chennai's Buckingham Canal at three places: Thiruvidanthai-Vadanemmeli, near the Nemmeli-Thiruporur bridge, and Saluvankuppam. Earlier, we explored how the Mamallan Reservoir causes serious damage to the wetland’s ecology and how fishing livelihoods are affected. Field investigations by the Wetland Conservation Network have recorded the blockages preventing tidal exchange in the Buckingham Canal.           According to officials, these barriers were put up to enable construction of the Mamallan…

In September, Rabiya HM found herself dialling the railway police helpline, 139, during her 60-kilometre daily commute on Chennai's Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS). "At Park Station, a stranger was keeping an eye on me, and when I boarded the ladies' compartment, he followed me onto the next compartment, kept staring, and got off at every station," says the 28-year-old IT employee. Her calls did not go through until Taramani and the mandated police personnel were absent for over an hour. Eventually, Rabiya’s co-passengers intervened and forced the man to deboard. Rabiya’s experience is an everyday reality rather than the…

Over the past two decades, Chennai has weathered a tsunami, repeated floods, and now, according to a new study, a rapidly worsening mix of heat and rain. Heatwave-preconditioned extreme rainfall events in the Chennai Metropolitan Area have nearly tripled over four decades, rising from an average of 1.2 events a year between 1982 and 1991 to 3.2 events a year between 2012 and 2021. When a heatwave comes before the rain, the same study finds, the population exposed to flooding rises elevenfold and the number of buildings affected rises seven-fold. A separate assessment projects that heatwave days in the city…

Clothing waste is not generated every day, yet it remains a part of Chennai’s waste stream. As the city lacks disposal information and dedicated collection systems, clothing waste enters the mixed waste channels. Community-led initiatives such as that by the Residents of Kasturba Nagar Association (ROKA) highlight the gaps in the system and the potential of decentralised collection, reuse, repurposing, upcycling and recycling. Lack of a sustainable system to manage cloth waste Currently, there is no system for unusable cloth collection and no information for the public on how to dispose of clothes. Most unusable clothes, especially inner garments, are…

As work on the Mamallan Reservoir project is picking up pace, environmentalists and locals dread the devastation it is unleashing. The project not only threatens the fragile Kovalam-Nemmeli coastal wetland and the habitats it supports, but also poses flood risks to communities living nearby.  In an earlier article, we showed how field studies by the Suzhal Arivom team documented the damage this project will cause to the local ecology. Based on that same report, Part 2 looks at how the project impacts the daily lives and livelihoods of people in the Kovalam-Nemmeli area. The project can trigger the erasure of…

A few months ago, there was widespread uproar over attempts to convert a small part of the Pallikaranai Marshland in South Chennai into multi-storey apartments. Yet today, the equally vital Nemmeli coastal wetland in Chengalpattu district faces silent destruction. Richer in biodiversity and livelihood support than Pallikaranai, the Nemmeli wetland, also known as the “Great Salt Lake,” is being converted into a freshwater reservoir by the Tamil Nadu government, purportedly to boost drinking water supply to Chennai. But the project spells disaster. Phase one of the Mamallan Reservoir project involves acquiring more than 5,000 acres of land, removing topsoil, and…

Over the past few years, maths teacher Usha found her classroom sweltering during her usual 12.50–1.50 pm period, on the second floor of Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Government Girls Higher Secondary School. “It was so difficult to take class during the peak hours,” she says. But this year, she mentions that it feels slightly bearable, and attributes this to the shade of the trees, the wind blowing through the building, and the latest addition — solar-reflective paint on the roof. Data from a state government and UNEP Cooling pilot project at the Ambattur school shows that reflective coating brought the classroom’s internal…

As Chennai’s sizzling summer days have ended, work has begun on the northeastern monsoon across the city’s 15 zones. This year, experts and weather bloggers are calling attention to the Super El Niño (a weather pattern brewing in the tropical Pacific Ocean). Anticipating heavy storms, the Tamil Nadu government constituted an expert advisory committee under the Tamil Nadu Disaster Risk Reduction Agency to strengthen disaster preparedness and climate resilience, at the end of July. “Tamil Nadu will face the El Niño effects till September 2027, and we could potentially face a super cyclone forming in the Bay of Bengal during…

On hot summer afternoons in the western part of Chennai, while many adults retreat indoors, a group of children are out on the streets with thermo-hygrometers, fluke instruments, notebooks and pens. They record heat and humidity at different times of the day, surveying residents about their experiences and identifying how heat is distributed across their locality. Trained through a joint initiative by the Chennai Climate Action Group (CCAG)'s Youth Climate Resilience Movement and the Pudiyador Learning Centre, children in Ramapuram are monitoring hyperlocal temperatures, mapping urban heat hotspots, and documenting how extreme weather impacts their community.  The exercise began after…