GENRE: In Focus

"The Greater Chennai Corporation officials promised not to cut any trees in Gandhi Nagar when the work on stormwater drains commenced last year. They also assured us that they will transplant trees if needed. But soon after, they felled a neem tree and many saplings that were planted by the residents," says Meera Ravikumar, a resident of Gandhi Nagar. This is one of many instances of tree felling for infrastructure and development projects across Chennai.  Areas like K K Nagar, Shenoy Nagar, T Nagar, Adyar and Anna Nagar have seen tree felling for stormwater drain projects, laying of roads and…

Ramesh, a vegetable vendor in Mumbai is a resident of Uttar Pradesh where his family lives while he is here in the city, earning his living. For over a decade, Ramesh works for 10 to 12 hours a day, on the streets selling perishable vegetables and fruits. Working in the adverse climatic conditions of heat, monsoon and mild winter is part of his occupation. “Garmi ka toh kuch kar nahi sakte, paise toh kamaane hi hai,” (We cannot do much about the heat when the question is about our livelihood)” he says with a smile, when asked about the current…

It is a Sunday morning in December and I am at the entrance of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), a protected forest located within the limits of Mumbai city. There are long queues of families who have turned up to enjoy the cool winter morning, stretching way beyond the entry gate of the park. While I wait for Dinesh Barap — who belongs to the Warli tribe, indigenous to the forest — I can hear people, restless with excitement, talking about the journey ahead as they move forward in the queues to deposit the entry fee for exploring the park…

"How can I be encouraged to walk in Chennai if the roads do not have space for pedestrians?" 23-year-old Varsha Ganesh, a resident of KK Nagar asks. "I take share autos or my two-wheeler these days, even if I have to cover a short distance."  Varsha is not the only person to feel that way. "The situation is no different anywhere else in the city. Pedestrian safety has always been the last priority for the government," says Raghukumar Choodamani, a civic activist from Perambur. Last year, pedestrians suffered 35% of the total road fatalities in Chennai. A study identified Koyambedu,…

Take a drive along Keelkattalai to Kamatchi Memorial Hospital any time during the day, and you will see hundreds of water lorries parked on the radial road. This stretch, 80% of which falls under Kovilambakkam Panchayat and 20% within the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) limits, is a hub of illegal groundwater extraction — one of the root causes of Chennai’s water woes.As it happens, there are four or five legitimate water drawing points near the Keelkattalai lake, but the lorries do not use those points to extract water. “A black hose has been laid illegally,  2 to 3 km away…

"Do you have your eyes on the road or not? Can't you see there are vehicles coming?", yelled a motorcycle rider at a few pedestrians waiting to cross the Rajiv Gandhi IT Expressway on foot. He did so as he sped past the Tidel Park signal, swerving left, on his way to East Coast Road. He missed colliding with the pedestrians by some inches. A recent study on accidents involving pedestrians in Chennai raised some alarming facts about exactly how unsafe the city is for those who navigate it on foot. The study was conducted by Karthikeyan Baskar, a Chennai-based…

Be it Fashion Street, Linking Road, Colaba Causeway or the buzzing Khau Gallis offering a variety of delicacies in various localities, Mumbai is known by its lively street markets run by hawkers. They have a distinct character that attracts shoppers from Mumbai and outside, and have even become a tourist attraction.  The book shops on pavements around Flora Fountain, which were an enduring source of knowledge, now invoke nostalgic memories for generations of book lovers. Similarly, Chor Bazaar is a source of art installations and furniture for art connoisseurs and collectors. Several useful services from typists to affidavit papers to…

Translated by Geetha Ganesh கோவிட்-19 தொற்றுநோய் சென்னையில் பலரின் வாழ்வாதாரத்தை சிதைத்தது. கோவிட்-19 பொருளாதாரத் தாக்கத்தைத் தணிக்க, மத்திய காலக் கொள்கை பரிந்துரைகளை வழங்க, டாக்டர் சி ரங்கராஜன் குழுவை மாநில அரசு அமைத்தது. குழுவின் பரிந்துரைகளில் ஒன்று நகர்ப்புற ஏழைகளுக்கு தினசரி ஊதிய திட்டத்தை உருவாக்குவதாகும். இதைக் கருத்தில் கொண்டு தமிழ்நாடு அரசு சென்னை மற்றும் பிற மாநகராட்சிகளில் நகர்ப்புற வேலைவாய்ப்புத் திட்டத்தை (TNUES) அறிமுகப்படுத்தியது. இத்திட்டம் மகாத்மா காந்தி தேசிய ஊரக வேலை உறுதிச் சட்டத்தை (MGNREGA) பிரதிபலிக்கிறது மற்றும் ஒரு வருடத்தில் 100 நாட்களுக்கு உத்தரவாதமான வேலைவாய்ப்பை வழங்கும் வகையில் வடிவமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. சென்னை மாநகராட்சியின் பணிகள் துறையின் நிர்வாக பொறியாளர் (EE) கூறுகையில், “தற்போது சென்னையில் இரண்டு மண்டலங்களில் இந்த திட்டம் சோதனை அடிப்படையில் செயல்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. மண்டலம் 4 மற்றும் 6 ஆகியவை நகரத்தின் மற்ற பகுதிகளுக்கு விரிவாக்கம் செய்யப்படுவதற்கு முன் இந்த திட்டத்தை சோதிக்க…

On a balmy evening in Chennai, Shruti was in for a rude shock as she entered her room in her fifth-floor apartment in Nesappakkam. A pigeon had made its way into the room through an open window. Over the next few hours, Shruti managed to get the bird to exit her room with much difficulty.  This incident resulted in her opting to protect her balcony and windows with a net to prevent pigeons from entering her home again. Feral pigeons have made their homes in Chennai, in the crevices, ledges, parapets and every other space they can find in buildings.…

Over the past few decades, North Chennai has seen pollution taint its air, land and water. Studies by various organisations have shown that a key factor behind the rising pollution in North Chennai is the major industries that operate in the Ennore-Manali region, including the state-owned thermal power plant. Pollution has affected the lives of scores of residents in North Chennai and robbed many of their livelihoods. While the polluters should be held responsible, it is equally important to hold the regulator, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), accountable. The TNPCB has been entrusted with the duty to curb…