EDITORS' PICK

The districts of Tiruvallur, Chennai and Kanchipuram once boasted of a landscape densely dotted with wetlands and a lifestyle that was closely linked to the survival of these water bodies. With the boundaries of the Chennai metropolitan area considerably distended and concrete slowly creeping into the city’s many tanks and ponds, there is an urgent need to retain whatever little waterscape we are left with. The NGO Care Earth Trust, along with The Nature Conservancy and the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, has embarked on a project to restore one of South Chennai’s prominent waterbody—the Sembakkam lake. With a current water-spread area of around 100…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship On April 22nd, World Earth Day, around 400 volunteers gathered at a Government High School near Bommasandra in Bengaluru, to plant 5500 saplings that will result in a forest by 2028. This Earth Day plantation drive was organised by Say Trees, a Bengaluru-based NGO that’s actively involved in tree plantations in India. This was their 8th plantation drive using the Miyawaki method of creating a forest, introduced by Akira Miyawaki, a Japanese Botanist. This method includes planting a variety of native species close together in a small pit. The advantage:…

India is among the top five countries in e-waste generation. Within the country, Maharashtra generates the most e-waste. Increasing amount of e-waste pollution in India is adversely impacting the environment and health. Stricter regulations on e-waste management and protection of those working with e-waste is the need of the hour. The next time you think of buying a new cell phone or television on a whim, you might want to consider the effect it has on the environment and on human health. According to a recent study by researchers from University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun, the generation…

In April 2018, a teenage student from a reputed girls’ school in Gopalapuram Chennai typed out a long answer to a question on ‘the first crush you’ve had’ on a social media site. Just that in this case, her first crush happened to be a girl classmate. Soon, a couple of other girls from her class had taken a screenshot and started circulating it. The girls were teased, ridiculed, and labelled. Worse, several teachers of the school got to know about the post and allegedly censured and verbally abused the girl, even calling her a prostitute. The situation was aggravated…

“My landlord asked me to vacate the house I had rented, on two days notice, as he was unhappy that I had a friend visiting me. I was blindsided at having to leave with my belongings at such short notice. I stayed at a friend’s house till I was able to find another place”, says Aditya (name changed), a researcher at a think-tank in Chennai. This scenario might sound all too familiar to those living in rented homes in the city. Aggrieved tenants can be seen taking to the various Facebook groups dedicated to finding rental homes, to seek opinions…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship In the last few years, have you found yourself perspiring more than usual, while walking in core areas of Bengaluru city like Kalasipalaya?  Well, it's not just you. These are effects of the ‘urban heat island’ becoming more commonplace in the ‘Garden City’. This graphic by Raj Bhagath Palanichamy, a researcher at the World Resources Institute (WRI), as part of the City Water Assessment Tool, shows temperature ranges in core Bengaluru. Neighbourhoods like Jayanagar (the green section in the top left of the image) and Basavangudi are facing less exposure…

A two-year-old boy, with a critical kidney problem, was battling for life. Surrounded by tearful parents and relatives, the boy was on ventilator support and the medical technician was injecting him with emergency medication. Time: 6.40pm. Date: May 15, 2018. Venue: Inside the 108 ambulance on Mount Road. When citizens don't care Neither the worried faces of the ambulance crew nor its piercing long sirens had moved motorists to make way for the emergency service vehicle on the busy Mount Road on 15 May. The pilot of the ambulance, Chandru J, switched to the short, pulse-like siren that is used…

What is a Master Plan? Many of us complain that Chennai has grown ‘unplanned’. Technically that is not true. Chennai has been having various ‘plans’ guiding the expansion of the city since 1957. The First Master Plan for Chennai was published in 1975. Both the transport terminal and  wholesale market from Central Business District were shifted to the current CMBT and Koyambedu Market as a strategy to decongest the Central Business District then. So the master plan matters. The Second Master Plan was published in 2008 - this plan is a guiding document till 2026, another 8 years from now.…

Govindaa hari Govindaa.. Munirathna Naidu Govindaa! A video clip starts playing on the mobile. The middle-aged man watching it bursts into laughter. An imitation version of the popular chant that is chanted by people climbing up the Tirupati Hills in Andhra Pradesh has been used to project the misdeeds of Munirathna Naidu, a contestant from Rajarajeshwarinagar constituency in Bengaluru. The constituency had been perceived as sensitive by the Election Commission, and the voting was postponed to May 28, instead of May 15. The political material that lands up on WhatsApp like this is entertaining and opinionated, and makes people form…

How many of us know that a Chennaiite won the National Championship title last month, by solving the 3×3 Rubik’s cube with his feet in 40.81 seconds?   The 20-year-old  student of Electronics and Instrumentation engineering from Madras Institute of Technology, Chrompet won the National Championship in the speed cubing competition conducted at IIT-Bombay between 25 and 27 May this year. Around 300 speedcubers from all over the country had taken part in the competition. Most of us are familiar with the Rubik’s cube. You will find one in most homes that have children but often we hesitate to try…