GENRE: In Focus

Every year as June comes around, Deepak Doshi, owner of a plywood shop at Hindmata junction, starts to prepare for the impact of heavy rains on his shop. “We prepare to save our plywood from getting damaged by storing it at heights and covering it in a tarp, yet every year it does. We are dreading this year’s monsoon season,” he said. Flooding and waterlogging near the Hindmata bridge is an annual occurrence. A low-lying area with a saucer-shaped topography, the Hindmata junction in Parel is prone to waterlogs and floods. The water level can reach up to four feet…

Waste management had long been a puzzle that Chennai failed to crack as the city grew over the past few decades. As the city made strides toward decentralised waste management, there was hope that this might prove to be the step that improves the situation. However, over a year after the new system was put in place, there are questions about the efficacy of its working. One of the two key components of decentralistion is wet waste composting which takes place through dedicated micro composting centres (MCCs). Citizen Matters zoomed in on how wet waste is treated in the city…

In today’s employment scenario, the race to get a government job, any job, can get real ugly. Recruitment to the armed forces is particularly sought after. The main reasons that tend to turn any government recruitment scheme into a subject of controversy, at times leading to violent protests. A recent Railway recruitment process had to be scrapped for precisely those reasons. Now, a new recruitment scheme for the armed forces has seen violent protests in states like UP, Rajasthan and Bihar. Vehicles and trains were burnt by angry protestors who saw in the scheme a plot to deny them permanent…

On June 22, 91 out of the 1,648 new cases of COVID in Mumbai were hospitalised, taking the total number of occupied beds to 666. The city makes up for more than half of the daily reported cases in the state as Maharashtra had 3,260 patients on the same day.  Even as cases in Mumbai have dropped since June 15th, when the daily load shot up to 2,348, and active patients have dropped from 14,146 on June 21st to 13,501 on June 22nd, the number of people occupying hospital beds has increased. Currently, there are 24,765 beds reserved for COVID patients. The latest…

Councillor N Adiyaman of Ward 105 in Arumbakkam started his political journey with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) decades ago. His father is also a member of the party. Adiyaman serves as a division organising secretary within the party and continues to hold the post after being elected councillor. He believes that the vision of the state government in transforming Chennai would help bring huge changes to the city. At the same time, he is aware of the various civic issues faced by those in his ward ranging from flooding to waste management and is looking into solutions to address…

B Vimala, the councillor of Ward 41, part of the RK Nagar assembly constituency, sits in a modest office above the ward's Amma Unavagam, just off a busy street, a hub of activity. On the wall behind her hangs a picture of veteran Communist leader N Sankaraiah. A member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)), this is 30-year-old Vimala's first term as a councillor. Vimala has been with the CPI(M) for the past ten years. Her political journey began as part of the youth wing of the party, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). She decided…

Ever since BBMP closed down its RTI (Right to Information) Cell five years back, it's been tougher for citizens to get information about BBMP's decisions and actions. For 11 years (2006 to 2017), the BBMP head office had a fairly active central RTI Cell that accepted all RTI requests. The applicant only had to address the request to the 'PIO (Public Information Officer), BBMP', and the PIO in charge of the RTI Cell would forward the request to the concerned officer. Since the closure of the Cell in 2017, citizens have to identify the specific PIO in charge of the…

If one were to compare the national economy to the human body, highways can be considered the arteries. Like clogged arteries which can be life-threatening, poor roads can derail economic growth. Planning and execution of highway projects have several other implications related to safeguarding the interest of the consumer, environmental impact, prudent contract management etc. One way to be aware of issues of impropriety and poor performance in local government bodies and departments is to track the audit reports from agencies like the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). This article is the sixth in the Series: Understanding Public…

In a previous article, we saw how Electronics City’s Township Authority (ELCITA) manages to keep its roads free of potholes by ensuring good drainage and prompt filling of potholes. Functioning stormwater drains that prevent waterlogging and seepage into road surfaces were identified as an important factor in ensuring pothole-free roads. BBMP too has its own set of guidelines on how to ensure effective drainage of rainwater from roads. In reality, however, whether those guidelines are being followed can be a hit or miss across the city. Residents also play their part by encroaching on roads and drains and dumping garbage…

“Thamizhaga arase Thamizhaga arase, saga venduma nangal? Appo than paarpaya?” (Will the government of Tamil Nadu pay attention to our plight only when we die?) This was the chorus of around 1,500 temporary workers of Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) that echoed at the entrance of the Board’s office for ten continuous days. The reason for the protest was the decision to outsource manpower through private contractors and overlook the demands of temporary workers engaged by the CMWSSB. Even as Chennai has grown in the past few decades, the sanctioned posts in many key departments remain vacant or have…