EDITORS' PICK

West Bengal’s tryst with dengue in 2017 could not have been more deadly. Around 13000 people were affected and nearly 100 people lost their lives to the disease. Among the worst hit was the South 24 Parganas district with every household having at least one person down with the mosquito-borne disease. So, the citizens cannot be blamed for going into a panic mode every time the possibility of another outbreak is suspected. This being the case, you would expect the state government to be on its toes, leaving no stones unturned to ensure another dengue outbreak is avoided. Unfortunately, that’s not the…

Once there was a river. Rather, there were many rivers. And then there were none. In the run up to Arappor Iyakkam's Sakkadai Thiruvizha, a citizen awareness program to highlight the problem of sewage being let into Chennai's water bodies, two young photographers -- Raghavan Lokesh and Mohan Kumar Karunakaran -- volunteered to travel along Chennai's rivers, and capture images for our readers. The pictures are heart breaking. Let us take a minute to view, and mull over, what we have done to the lifelines of this city. [Raghavan Lokesh is an entrepreneur and has been volunteering with Arappor Iyakkam…

Five hopeful Mysorians, had planned a four-day trip to Singapore with Go Holiday Makers in Mysore which arranges national and international trips for consumers. The five consumers, Pushpa Talawar, Radha, Govindaraju, Dasegowda B.S. and Vittal Talawar, had paid up hefty amounts to Sri Bhaskar, owner of the Go Enjoy Holidays, for a package trip. They were promised a wonderful holiday with airport drop and pick up, hotel transport, hotel rooms, breakfast, lunch, dinner etc and they paid up a total of Rs 330,000 to Sri Bhaskar. When they reached Singapore, they were dismayed to find that no one had come…

As wintry Bangalore closed in on her, Sheila (name changed) began to plan her daughter’s marriage. But her husband, from whom she had escaped after 20 years of a violent, abusive marriage in Pune, threatened to descend on her and kill both her as well as their daughter. In fear, Sheila almost called off the marriage, but it was a nearby doctor (who wishes to remain anonymous) who helped to stop her. “Don’t cow down. Connect with me, with your neighbours, with the SHO of the nearby police station and be prepared to fight your husband with all of us…

On the evening of Saturday, March 31st, the residents of Besant Nagar were taken aback when large stretches of perfectly laid pavements, between Theosophical Society and Olcott School, interspersed with young trees protected by tree guards, were dug up and uprooted by a crew from the Greater Chennai Corporation. When they asked what the work was about, and who had ordered it, they were told that the Bus Route Roads (BRR) department of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), had a plan to widen the pavements and provide bicycle lanes. But why break perfectly good stretches when there are so many…

With summer approaching, the beaches in Chennai are expected to have more visitors looking to beat the heat but sadly, given the state of safety measures in these beaches, the safe return of the visitor is entirely up to chance and personal precautions. The lack of adequate safeguards is serious cause for concern among citizens and NGOs alike. A recent case, in which a teen hockey player in Chennai drowned off the Marina, spurred the Madras High Court (MHC) into action. The court directed the state government to install watchtowers and station lifesaving boats on the beach to prevent any…

Aravind Limbavalli, the MLA of Mahadevapura, may not have an easy time when he takes his election campaign to Kasavanahalli. The area which recently saw an illegal building collapse resulting in the death of five people is reeling under a plethora of problems. Having had enough, on March 10th, more than 1500 members of 28 RWAs who are part of the Kasavanahalli Development Forum, took out a silent protest and made 2 km long human chain against official apathy towards the various civic problems in the area that has even resulted in deaths as well. It is a little difficult…

For slum dwellers evicted from the banks of the Adyar and Cooum rivers in Chennai, currently residing in Perumbakkam, access to food rations under the Public Distribution System (PDS) is proving to be one arduous process. In addition to lack of educational facilities for children and infrastructural inadequacies highlighted in earlier articles in Citizen Matters Chennai, severe lapses in the functioning of the government-organised PDS, leading to insufficient essential commodities that families are dependent on, have also come to light. Inadequate numbers of PDS centres For the estimated number of 7600 families in Perumbakkam, there is only one PDS centre,…

With elections around the corner and all the political leaders sharing their vision for the state, we thought we at Makkala Jagriti would share our wish list for government schools in the state. This wishlist comes from the experience of working with government schools at grassroot levels. Focus on holistic development in each school It is well-known fact that Holistic development of children is very important for making them well-balanced human beings and preparing them for life. The very thoughtfully drafted National Curriculum framework also talks about Holistic Development: ‘The National Curriculum promotes the holistic development of the child. It…

It was in 1997 that Bangalore city corporation issued the first municipal bond in India, backed by a state government guarantee. The next year, Ahmedabad issued bonds worth Rs 100 crore, without government guarantee. But the momentum didn’t pick up - bonds worth only about Rs 1500 cr have been issued overall since then, and there have been no issues in the more recent years. Last June, however, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) became the first city to issue bonds after a long gap. Bonds worth Rs 200 cr were issue to fund PMC’s 24X7 water supply project. Then again, in…