GENRE: Features

Ever since the smart city project commenced in T Nagar, the area has been in the limelight. Organisations such as The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) have been working closely with Chennai Corporation and Chennai Smart City Limited, to understand the challenges  particular to the locality, and propose sustainable mobility interventions. In an interview with Citizen Matters Chennai, Aswathy Dilip, Senior Programme Manager at ITDP India talks about the Smart City projects and how they have the potential to propel T Nagar on to the league of international cities and neighbourhoods. Ashwathy leads the Complete Streets strategy, policy and project…

Every year, the Chennai Book Fair comes to town right on the heels of the Chennai Music Season, but clearly the Book Fair has a much larger appeal. This year, in its 42nd year, it has returned to the sprawling grounds of YMCA Nandanam. The newspapers reported that earlier this week, the Book Fair saw a record 8 lakh visitors on a single day! Over the course of 17 days, the fair expects over 2 million visitors. The organisers, Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) have gone to great lengths to ensure that visitors have a good time.…

In the above photo are some of a motley group of citizens who are funding the construction of a Ganga style stone mantapa to house the recently discovered 750CE Kittayya-Hebbal inscription stone! This could well be the first time ever in the world a group of ordinary citizens are coming together to help conserve and celebrate a city's written heritage in this manner. In the photo they are seen holding accurate 1/8 scale brass mementos of the incredible Kittayya-Hebbal inscription. These same mementos are now proudly displayed in showcases in their homes and offices – a first again in that…

Priti, a Class VII student at an aided school in Bengaluru, hoists a schoolbag that looks like a ton of bricks on her back. She flares up when told that the central government has recommended reduction in the weight of schoolbags. "Oh, really?" she asks, indignantly. "Then why didn't our teacher tell us about it, and why am I carrying so many textbooks, pencil boxes, art material, sports equipment, bottles and boxes?" A cursory examination of her schoolbag reveals the list that she blurted out. There were not just books, but many extraneous materials that did not appear really useful.…

With urban centres across the country generating around 1.45 lakh metric tonnes of solid waste a day, denizens are no strangers to lectures on segregating recyclables and composting organic waste. Increasing pressure on the urban environment is forcing the state to take cognisance and look for alternatives to deal with the mounting solid waste problem. Mid-2018, the Tamil Nadu government announced a ban on all single-use plastics starting January 1, 2019 in a bid to ease the pressures of pollution on the state. While there’s no denying that stringent laws and penal provisions are required to ensure compliance, these are…

With the Tamil Nadu government's partial ban on single-use plastic in place since January 1st, Citizen Matters spoke to Rajendra Ratnoo, IAS, one of the the three regional coordinators working to make the transition to a plastic-less state smooth and ensure the success of the ban. We asked him some of the questions raised most often by our readers. What happens to the existing single use plastic in possession with the people as on January 1st? The segregated collection of waste by the local body is already underway in many places. People can turn in the single use plastic they…

Translated by Krishna Kumar வேலைக்கு இடம்பெயர்ந்த ஜார்கண்ட் மாநிலத்தைச் சேர்ந்தவர்களை ‘ரௌடிகள்’ என்றும், வடகிழக்கு மாநிலத்தை சேர்ந்தவர்களை பாலியல் ரீதியாக தாராளமானவர்கள் என்று ஏளனமாகவும், மேற்கு வங்காளத்தில் இருந்து வந்தவர்கள் ‘அழுக்கு’ என்றும் முத்திரை குத்தப்படுகிறார்கள். உள்ளூர் தேயிலைக்/காபி கடைகளில் இம்மாதிரியாக கோணங்களில் சர்வ சாதாரணமாக கிண்டல் கேலி செய்வது நாமெல்லாம் பார்க்க முடியும்,    சென்னை போன்ற நகரங்களுக்கு குடியேறியவர்கள், பொதுவாக இத்தகைய தவறான அபிப்ராயங்களுக்கு ஆட்படுகிறார்கள். ஜே ஜெயராஜனின் 2013 ஆராய்ச்சி கட்டுரையின் படி  சென்னைக்கு குடியேறுபவர்களில் அஸ்ஸாமில் இருந்து 23 சதவீதம், மேற்கு வங்கத்திலிருந்து 14 சதவீதம், பீகாரிலிருந்து  13.7 சதவிகிதம், ஒடிஷாவிலிருந்து 14.6 சதவிகிதம், ஆந்திராவில் இருந்து 9.5 சதவிகிதம் மற்றும் திரிபுராவிலிருந்து 0.3 சதவிகிதம்.ஆனால் கடந்த ஐந்து ஆண்டுகளில் வடக்கு கிழக்கில் இருந்து இடம்பெயர்ந்த மக்களே அதிகரித்து வருகின்றனர். "சென்னையில் உணவு, உற்பத்தி மற்றும் ஆடை துறைகளில் மலிவான கூலிக்கு ஆட்கள் கிடைகாத பிரச்சனைக்கு, வடகிழக்கு…

Citizens of Tamil Nadu will start the new year without plastic, thanks to the state government's decision to impose a ban on plastic. In the absence of sufficient awareness of alternatives to plastic, a sense of ambiguity prevails among  citizens and trader communities, even though it has been six months since the announcement was made.  We spoke to various stakeholders, whose livelihoods have traditionally remained linked in one way or the other to plastic, to know how they plan to cope with the ban. https://youtu.be/BisUHNQR4Z8  

The clock strikes four on a December afternoon. A group of four muscular men speak in muffled voices inside a SUV, planning a rescue operation that is set to take place in half an hour. The vehicle comes to a halt before a spacious farm house in Chittoor, 150 kilometres away from Chennai. In the next three minutes, a series of shocking scenes are enacted and troubled voices rent the air. The team of four hailed from a de-addiction centre in Chennai and had arrived for the 'rescue' of a hardened alcoholic, who was sleeping. The victim’s family members left…

Divya (name changed) was a successful 40-year-old HR professional from Bengaluru till such time as she lost her mother to a heart attack, suddenly, a few years ago. She herself was hospitalised a couple of weeks later, reason unknown. It was left to a psychiatrist to identify that she was suffering from depression. She was advised medication and grief counselling which she continues to this day. 'Accepting that I had depression was not easy. Anxiety attacks compounded the problem. I went through denial before I could finally accept that what I dealing with was an ailment which needed attention -…