GENRE: Features

Chennai is expanding at a dizzying pace. The number of residential units being built in the city is escalating every year, and so is the demand for water. The fact that more than 1800 new applications reach the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB)'s head office every month, points to the magnitude of the demand. However, a majority of the applicants, and indeed most citizens, are often confused or oblivious of the procedure to be followed and the documents to be furnished for a quick resolution of their application. As a result, most of them end up making…

Every Chennaiite who has lived through the floods of 2015 has a quiet apprehension about the monsoon. The revelation that the 2015 flooding, which left scores dead and Chennai in shambles, was the result of inaction on the part of officials, has increased the distrust among the public. However, a joint effort by various stakeholders to renew and restore close to a 100 water bodies under the Greater Chennai Corporation has been underway for many months now. The Goals of Restoration Flood mitigation, renewal of water table and rejuvenation of water bodies constitute the aim of the initiative that has seen…

Plastic bans across various Indian states have been in the headlines for over a month now, with Maharashtra abandoning plastic and Tamil Nadu announcing plans to follow suit from January 2019. A partial ban on plastic is in place in five states  in India -- Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Kerala and Goa. Indian cities have joined others around the world in observing a plastic-free July, and there are various initiatives underway to spread awareness and encourage rejection of single-use plastic. However, in this much-needed discourse around plastic and its ill effects, there has been a notable lack of attention given…

The Swacch Bharat ranking released last month has seen Chennai climb to rank 100, up from a lowly 235 the previous year. While there is some reason for cheer there, realities on the ground with regard to sanitation facilities in the city are far from promising. Chennai's lack of public toilets has been an issue that has plagued the city for many years.  With a burgeoning population, the facilities in existing toilets have also been found to be wanting. Couched in this larger issue is the oft neglected problem of absence of adequate public toilets for women in the city…

Twelve hours after two commuters were killed in an overcrowded train at St Thomas Mount on Monday evening, a similar accident claimed four lives at the same station on Tuesday morning. Four men -- Shivakumar (19), Bharat(16), Naveen Kumar (25) and Shankar (age unknown) -- were killed, while six others injured when their shoulder bags hit the 5-feet railway cement fence at the station. They were travelling on the footboard of the overcrowded Chennai Beach to Tirumalpur express that reached St Thomas Mount Railway station at 8.20am. According to a spokesperson from Southern Railways, the fence was constructed to prevent…

Residents of South City apartments in Bengaluru were in for a rude shock this February when Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) served them a notice demanding penalties up to Rs 54 lakh. Similar notices were also sent to Purva Highlands apartment complex. The Vigilance Police Commissioner (BESCOM) from the Hosakote branch said that two months ago, a huge gated community on Doddaballapur Road, with over 3000 flats had everything from a spa,  a beauty parlour, an ATM to Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), fire hydrants and club house facilities on their apartment premises. Hence, it was charged under LT-5 tariff referred to…

It no longer comes as a surprise to anyone -- the annual monsoon headlines describing how India's megapolis Mumbai is gasping to keep its head above floods caused by heavy rain, while citizens rue that there is little they can do to dam it. Still, sometimes, there are fledgling ideas that do lead to action, even if at a hyperlocal level. Radha, a citizen activist from Lokhandwala Residents' Association at an apartment in a shopping-cum-residential area got into the act immediately. She says that when her locality was getting flooded, the main cause of the excessive water was found to…

It no longer comes as a surprise to anyone -- the annual monsoon headlines describing how India's megapolis Mumbai is gasping to keep its head above floods caused by heavy rain, while citizens rue that there is little they can do to dam it. Still, sometimes, there are fledgling ideas that do lead to action, even if at a hyperlocal level. Radha, a citizen activist from Lokhandwala Residents' Association at an apartment in a shopping-cum-residential area got into the act immediately. She says that when her locality was getting flooded, the main cause of the excessive water was found to…

With a long coastline, Chennaiites have the luxury of a sand track for their sporting activities, especially athletics. The sand track is the cheapest facility for many athletes, including the youth from fishermen communities, who can be seen practising on beach roads. The 210 playgrounds maintained by the Greater Chennai Corporation also facilitate daily practice for the potential athletes. But can we really provide the kind of infrastructure needed for athletes to compete and shine on the global arena ? Perhaps not. While the existing facilities are good for athletes in the early training phases, mastering the sport requires well-equipped…

With Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s maiden budget reviving the pod taxi for five stretches in Bengaluru at a cost of Rs 1445 crores, several eyebrows have been raised in questions over what makes the government favour it as a possible solution to the city’s traffic nightmare. Interestingly, the idea of pod taxis isn't as new as one would imagine. Indian cities have seen similar experiments before: The Chembur - Wadala - Maharaja Chowk monorail project, the airport feeder metro built by the Delhi Metro as a PPP project which was subsequently converted into the orange line. Both have had their…