GENRE: In Focus

"If I had been made a Ward Committee member, I would have pushed for relocation of the wine shop near my lane so that women can walk around safely after sunset," says Mallika, a daily wage worker from Nesapakkam, Ward 137 of the Greater Chennai Corporation. Unfortunately, she was unaware of when the councillor of her ward chose the Area Sabha Representatives or who the Ward Committee Member of her area was. "The councillor came during the local body election time. I do not recollect seeing him coming after that," she says. While it has been touted as a platform…

With each passing year, the government owes private schools the reimbursements for students taken in free of cost under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The amount has racked up to around a crore for some schools, with several school associations alleging Rs 1,200 crore is due in total. “Last year, we received the RTE reimbursement for the academic years 2016-17 and 2017-18,” says Anushka Pradhan, head of primary at Gyan Kendra school in Andheri. The school takes in 52 new students from financially and socially weaker backgrounds with the promise of a free education till the eighth grade every…

"Many years ago, I bought all of my computer parts from Ritchie street. It was my first ever PC. The market still fills me with nostalgia," says Gokoulane Ravi, a resident of Tambaram. Ritchie street area has been the go-to market for electronics for people not just in Chennai, but in other areas in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. For decades the shopkeepers have kept up with changes in technology and sourced the most in-demand goods. But competition with e-commerce websites and crackdowns from authorities is a looming threat to the business. History of Ritchie street "My father used to…

Translated by Sandhya Raju பிற மீனவர்களோடு, ஜனவரி 9 அன்று, சங்கரும் கடலுக்கு சென்றார். கடலில் போடப்பட்ட வலையை எடுக்கையில், கால் தவறி தண்ணீருக்குள் அவர் விழுந்தார். அவரை உடனடியாக மற்ற மீனவர்கள் மீட்டனர். ஆனால் அவருக்கு காயங்கள் ஏற்பட்டன. கடலில் போட்ட வலையை எடுக்காமல், அவர்களால் படகை கரைக்கு திருப்ப முடியாது என்பதால், உடனடி சிகிச்சை அளிக்க வேண்டிய தருணத்தை கடந்தனர். பின்னர் 108 ஆம்புலன்ஸ் சேவையை அழைத்து அவருக்கு முதலுதவி கொடுக்கப்பட்டது. மேற்சிகிச்சைக்காக மருத்தவமனையில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்ட சங்கர், ஐந்து நாட்கள் பின் உயிரிழந்தார்.  கடலுக்குள் தினந்தோறும் செல்லும் மீனவர்கள் சந்திக்கும் சாதாரண அவசர நிலை இது,” என்கிறார், தென்னிந்திய மீனவர்கள் நலச்சங்க தலைவர் கே. பாரதி.  சென்னையில் பெரும்பாலன மீனவர்கள் கண்ணாடியிழை மீன்பிடி படகுகளை பயன்படுத்துகின்றனர். இவர்கள் 12 கடல் மைல் (22 கி.மீ) சுற்றளவுக்குள் பயணிக்கின்றனர்.  “சூழ்நிலையை பொருத்து கரையை அடைய சுமார் 3 முதல்…

In October 2022, the Bangalore Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML), the company set up by BBMP for waste management, announced its decision to set up five new plants specifically to process construction and demolition waste. But does the city need five new plants? As one of the fastest growing cities in the country, Bengaluru is constantly being broken down and built up. This steady influx of roads, flyovers, pavements and buildings result in a considerable amount of waste being generated in the form of a variety of materials, including leftover cement, broken concrete, glass, wood, granite. Over 2,500 tonnes of…

This is the second of a two part story looking at the soil subsidence incident in Joshimath and all the warnings that were ignored leaving residents fearful of what the future holds for them A little known fact is that the soil subsidence vulnerability of Joshimath has has been known for over 35 years. In 1976, the then undivided Uttar Pradesh government ordered formation of a 18-member committee headed by Garhwal Commissioner M C Mishra following the devastating floods of 1970. The committee report emphasised that Joshimath is situated on a moraine of a landslide and prone to landslips and…

A major urban planning course correction is underway in Mumbai in the form of the redevelopment of the Bombay Development Directorate (BDD) chawls. While the large-scale redevelopment of the decaying century-old chawls is imminent, there are concerns about the plans to rehouse the 15,593 families living in 195 three-storey chawls spread across 86.98 acres in Worli, N.M. Joshi Marg and Naigaum in Central Mumbai. Though these families have been promised 500 sq ft housing units - two bedrooms, a hall and a kitchen - in skyscrapers, planners are sceptical about the development model chosen for them. The Worli residents will…

As Chennai expands and develops at warp speed, it becomes vital to streamline growth. The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has been organising public consultations across the Chennai Metropolitan Area to prepare the vision document for the Third Master Plan (2026-2046). What should be the focus of the Third Master Plan? How can we make public consultations more participatory? What do the people in Chennai want from it? Citizen Matters puts together a panel with six panellists to discuss these issues: CMDA Member Secretary Anshul Mishra, Town Planner K M Sadhanandh, Former Professor and Guest Faculty KP Subramanian of Anna…

This is the first of a two part story looking at the soil subsidence incidents in Joshimath and what the future holds for the affected residents Probably for the first time in recent years, the 20,000 plus population of Joshimath, a picturesque town situated at a height of 6000 feet in the Garwal Himalayan foothills of Uttarakhand, prayed that there should not be any more rain and snow. But their prayers went unanswered. It did snow heavily in the past week, and the meteorological department offered no consolation with prediction of “heavy rain and snow from January 23rd till January…

The continued prevalence of certain infectious diseases in Mumbai highlights the need for improved urban planning for the city. For over a decade now, Dr Rajesh (name changed) has been seeing his patients complain about the same illnesses year after year at his civic-run dispensary situated inside Kurla’s slums. The most common of them all, he says, is tuberculosis and scabies. Kurla falls under Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s L ward, which registered a total of 1,013 TB cases in 2021. Since 2012, the ward has registered a total of 10,326 TB cases, the highest among all the 24 wards. “I cater…