EDITORS' PICK

The combined storage levels of Chennai’s four reservoirs stood at 6388mcft on 2nd April, almost ten times higher than what was recorded on the same day last year. The number raises hope that there will be no water scarcity in the city, at least not for the next six months, as assured by the Chief Engineer of the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB). But, why are those living in the suburbs at Ambattur and Chrompet unable to derive any solace from this? Water scarcity is a reality they are grappling with every day. The reasons for the…

The coronavirus outbreak has hit Himachal Pradesh with a triple whammy. With the state having closed its borders before the national lockdown, the tourism industry, on which lakhs of livelihoods depend, was completely shut down. While initially just three positive cases were reported, with one death, and a manageable number of foreign returnees requiring surveillance and tracing, the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi has caused a sudden increase in the number of positive cases even as health authorities scramble to trace primary and secondary contacts of those who had visited Delhi. The third whammy is the potential catastrophic disruption of…

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the governments of Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) have released various mobile apps. Most of them are meant for one or more of these purposes:  Ensure compliance with quarantine rules Provide information about symptoms and healthcare, and updates about the outbreak Tracing of confirmed and at-risk cases Tracing contact history with confirmed and at-risk cases A slew of mobile apps and other Internet-based interventions have been released by governments and private entities around the world. Google’s Android application store…

As the coronavirus outbreak shows no signs of abating any time soon, the economy of every nation, first world and third world, is in virtual free fall. For India too, COVID-19 is not only a public health challenge, but also an economic challenge that needs to be tackled on a war footing by the Central and state governments. Restricted cargo movement, weak supply chains, lack of liquidity in the markets, heavy cross-border movement by migrant workers and many other factors have added to the pressure on the economy. With relief packages aimed at the middle class and the poor being…

As the city continues to be under lockdown, many people have questions on the eligibility and procedure of availing a pass for unavoidable travel. Stringent measures have been put in place in the city to enforce social distancing and the  policy of passes is also designed to ensure that even if people have to step out, it should not lead to crowding anywhere. Here is a guide that answers the most common queries around travel passes in Chennai: Who can issue a travel pass? The process has been centralised and only Collectors through Personal Assistant (General) for districts and the…

The world currently faces one of the most devastating and unprecedented health and human crises ever in the form of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak. Even as this piece is being written, COVID-19 has claimed close to 70 lives in our country and has seen over 2600 positive cases. The central government, state governments and local governments have ramped up their efforts and are fighting the infection on a war footing. The entire country has been locked down for a period of 21 days starting March 25th. In such a scenario, cities and towns in India continue to be…

The situation has never been so fluid. The number of COVID-19 cases is constantly changing and as new data is collected, responses to the pandemic are evolving. It is still too early to comment on or analyse either the numbers or where this will all end. However, it is certainly a ripe time to look at India’s healthcare system as it reveals itself today in the face of the coronavirus emergency. A TEDx talk by Bill Gates of 2015 is making the rounds on social media. In his talk, Gates describes how health systems need to gear up for future…

Sample this: One drone disinfects 80,000 sq metres in a day, requiring negligible manpower and covering all nooks and corners of the city.  This technology, adopted by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to combat the spread of COVID-19, has caught the attention of many city residents. In a tie-up with Team Dhaksha (Aerospace Department) of Anna University, the civic body is using drones for spraying disinfectant across the city. Following a pilot run in the Corporation’s headquarters at Ripon Building using four drones, the project is to be extended across Chennai, according to the Corporation’s press release. We spoke to…

On an endless stretch of National Highway 58 (NH-58), a batch of over 200 migrant workers, arriving all the way from Ahmedabad are intercepted at the Rajasthan borders. The officials manning the borders, who are short-stocked on testing kits or thermal screening devices are insistent that the ‘returnees’ produce ‘Health Certificates’. The repeated claims of the migrants, including women and elderly, that they are natives of the state are insufficient to secure them safe passage back to their homes in South Rajasthan. Since the nation-wide lock down on March 24th, the reverse-migration of semi-skilled and unskilled workers ‘on foot’ --…

Translated by Sandhya Raju கொரோனா வைரஸ் அல்லது கோவிட்-19 என்ற நோய்க்கு அறிமுகம் தேவையில்லை. வைரஸ் தொற்று பரவல் பற்றியும் மத்திய மாநில அரசுகள் எடுத்து வரும் நடவடிக்கைகள் குறித்தும் அனைவரும் அறிந்ததே. இந்த கட்டுரை எழுதும் இந்த சமயத்தில் கிட்டத்திட்ட ஆயிரம் பேருக்கு தொற்று பரவி 29 பேர் உயிரிழந்துள்ளனர். இதற்கு மேலும் தொற்று விரைவாக பரவாமல் இருக்க அரசாங்கமும் ஒவ்வொரு தனி நபரும் போதிய பாதுகப்பு நடவடிக்கைகளை மேற்கொள்ளவேண்டும். சமூக விலகல், ஜனதா கர்ஃபியூ, ஊரடங்கு ஆகியவற்றிற்கு நடுவே, மனநலம் குறித்து விவாதிக்கப்படவில்லை, இது போன்ற அசாதாரண சூழலில் பொது சுகாதாரத்தில் ஒரு முக்கிய சவாலாக இது உள்ளது. இச்சமயத்தில் ஆரோக்கியமான மனநிலையை பேணுவதும், குறிப்பாக மனநல பாதிக்கக்கூடியவர்களுக்கு உதவுவதும் முக்கியம். கோவிட்-19 (கொரோனா வைரஸ்) தொற்று  மனநலம் மீது எத்தகைய தாக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்தும் என பெங்களூருவை சேர்ந்த மனநல மருத்துவர் மற்றும் ரிச்மண்ட் பெல்லோஷிப் சொசைட்டியின்…