GENRE: Explainers

Zone snapshot Wards: 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93 Polling stations: 439 Population: 715079 (2013) To locate your polling station – https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone – https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the zone: Residents have been demanding that Metro Water implement sewer connections for houses in areas such as Oragadam, Venkatapuram and  Kallikuppam. Wards 82, 85 and 86 are yet to get underground drain connections. Residents have also pressed for the long overdue widening of Rail Over Bridge at Ambattur OT to reduce traffic congestion, but the construction is yet to happen. This plan was part of a…

Zone snapshot Wards: 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78 Polling stations: 505 Population: 611680 (2013) To locate your polling station - https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone - https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the zone: Improper road laying leading to excess flooding in settlements and houses. In Vetri Nagar in Kolathur, manholes were covered up in the road laying process. Many incomplete development projects. For example work on Stephenson Bridge across Otteri Nullah is still ongoing. Residents are wading through drainage water stagnating on the road daily. Water logging during the rainy season especially…

On January 10th, a 19-year-old teenager shared an incident of domestic violence in Mumbai on the city-based website Safecity, which encourages citizens to report all kinds of violence. “My friend has an abusive household where her mother was always beaten up. It hasn't changed and due to lockdown, things had gotten worse as they couldn't get out,” she said. Like her, many others have been reporting and sharing incidents of violence on the website. So far in 2022, over 20 citizens have reported domestic violence cases in Mumbai anonymously on Safecity. Indeed, domestic violence cases in Mumbai have risen. In the…

Over the past  few years, especially after the December 2015 floods, we have seen varying figures  on the number of lakes being restored in the Chennai Metropolitan Area. Greater Chennai Corporation, through the Chennai Smart Cities Limited has a goal of restoring  210 lakes, working with NGOs and other civic organisations who are also working on lake restoration independently. Much of these restoration efforts are volunteer-driven and typically involve clean ups, erecting fences and creating spaces for birds. Some restoration efforts also involve removal of encroachments, desilting, and reviving connecting channels.  As of June 2021, around 180 water bodies under…

It would be an understatement to say that humans are dependent on their electronic gadgets or devices. In this day and age of work from home and e-learning, where the pandemic has ensured that individuals and families spend most of their time within the four walls of their homes, it is safe to say that we’re all hooked on to some or the other electronic appliance, one way or the other. However, the question remains as to what happens to these electronic or electrical devices once their shelf lives are over? That is, when they have been reduced to 'e-waste'?…

The constitutional right to vote has been the cornerstone of India’s democratic foundation. In a country as diverse, with 900 million registered voters in 2019 as per Election Commission figures, the model for exercising universal adult franchise has often been applauded. But the model remains beset with a set of unique challenges. One such long-standing challenge is checking duplicate entries in the country's electoral rolls. To address this issue, the union government has now proposed linking of the Aadhaar and the voter ID, as represented by the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC). The proposal immediately evoked strong criticism and raised…

Translated by Sandhya Raju கீழ்பாக்கத்தில் தனது குடும்பத்துடன் வசிக்கும்78 வயது டி சுரேஷ், 2012-ம் ஆண்டு முதல் இது வரை ஆண்டுக்கு 2 எல்பிஜி சிலிண்டர் மட்டுமே வாங்கியிருக்கிறார். தினமும் அவர் குடும்பம் வெளியே சாப்பிடுவதில்லை, எலெக்ட்ரிக் அல்லது இண்டக்ஷன் அடுப்பையும் உபயோகிப்பதில்லை. "இதில் ஒன்றும் பெரிய சூட்சமம் இல்லை," என கூறும் சுரேஷ், கடந்த 9 ஆண்டுகளாக சமையலறை கழிவுகளிலிருந்து அவர்களுக்கான சமையல் எரிவாயுவை தயாரிக்கிறார். இது எந்தவொரு ஆய்வகத்தில் தயாரிக்கப்படுவதில்லை, தன் சொந்த வீட்டிலேயே அவர் நிறுவியுள்ள உயிர்வாயு அமைப்பு மூலம் பெறுகிறார். சமையல் எரிவாயுவை உருவாக்குவதைத் தவிர, உயிர்வாயு வெளியிடும் மிச்சம் தாவரங்களுக்கு கரிம உரமாக பயன்படுத்தலாம். பல வருடங்களாக மேற்கூரை சோலார் பேனல் வைத்திருக்கும் இவரிடம் பலர் இது குறித்து ஆலோசனை கேட்டுச் செல்கின்றனர். "சுமார் 10 வருடங்கள் முன், என்னுடைய சோலர் நிறுவலை கஆண வந்த ஒருவர், தான் உயிர்வாயு வணிகம் செய்வதாக…

Disposing of pet poop/pet waste is one of the most sensitive issues in a neighbourhood or apartment community, and there has been an increasing pressure on pet parents to be responsible by picking up after their pet. While one of the easiest solutions to dispose of pet waste is by bagging it, imagine the amount of plastic (fossil-fuel-based or plant-based) tied with dog poop that will be sent to landfills or incinerators.  An internet search around disposing pet waste throws up multiple options:  Bag it and disposeScoop and flush itScoop and trash near plantsScoop and bury, which basically promotes composting Let's…

The first doctor to report the Omicron variant on November 18th, 2021 was Dr Angelique Coetzee, National Chairperson of South African Medical Association. “On that day, I saw seven patients with similar symptoms of myalgia, headache, fatigue who tested positive for COVID-19 with rapid tests at my consulting rooms,” Dr Coetzee said in an email interview with Citizen Matters. “Their symptoms were different from Delta and I alerted the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on Vaccines of which I am a part. It took our scientists six days to announce to the world that there’s a new variant.”  Subsequently, on…

78-year-old D Suresh lives with his wife, son and daughter-in-law in Kilpauk, and he says he has bought only two LPG cylinders per year since 2012. His family does not eat outside every day, nor do they use electric or induction stoves for cooking their daily meals. "It is not rocket science," says the septuagenarian when he says that he has been generating his own cooking gas from kitchen waste for over nine years. When the waste decomposes in the absence of oxygen, Suresh gets biogas that he uses for cooking. This process does not happen in a scientific laboratory…