GENRE: LN

Not a civil servant. Not a Councillor. Not a full-time activist. Just another Chennaiite, like any of us. While most of his age prefer to spend time with family, go on vacations and concentrate on personal and professional goals, 50-year-old C R Balaji clicks pictures of badly laid roads and illegally dumped garbage during his commute to and from work and reports it to the appropriate government authorities. If you are a resident of Mylapore, you cannot miss this tall, middle-aged man going around on his bike taking pictures to highlight the various civic issues in the neighbourhood. And his…

As dusk descends over Thozhuvur village, 41 km from Chennai,  S Kasinathan, rests on a small chair in his thatched roof house. He coughs incessantly and curses his fate for being a burial ground worker. The 42-year-old man from this village in Thiruvallur district has just cremated a body and has had to inhale the smoke for hours. Kasinathan laughs sarcastically when asked why he was not wearing his safety gear. “I do not even get a monthly salary here, despite working as a ‘vettiyan’ (one who cremates and bury the dead) for over 15 years now. Asking for a…

Nirbhaya, Swathi, Hasini and Indhuja. Even as we raise a toast to Manushi Chillar and celebrate the return of the Miss Universe crown to India, it is not easy to forget these women and countless others like them, who serve as constant and disturbing reminders of how cruel and brutal our cities can be towards women. Crime statistics for the year 2016 released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) indicates that Chennai ranks third in crime rate and second in terms of incidence of crime, including crimes recognised under both Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws…

The death of 19-year-old Sanjay Aditya Giri on November 29th, as he was crossing the Outer Ring Road at Bellandur isn’t a one-off tragedy. It is an everyday reality for people who have chosen to live on that stretch.  On December 6th, residents of the neighbourhood plan a human chain to demand skywalks on what is one of Bengaluru’s busiest roads. Skywalks and better pedestrian facilities are not a new demand. In 2015, just before the BBMP elections, citizens met with candidates, including Asha Suresh who won the elections, as well as the Mahadevpura MLA Arvind Limbavali to request for…

We hadn't expected to receive 68 entries for this topic, in a city where half the people don't know what a mayor can do. Our contest, 'If I were the Bengaluru Mayor' became an all-time hit, with submissions overflowing with ideas! There were 54 English entries, and 14 Kannada entries. We read them again and again, and shortlisted 10 English entries and 5 Kannada entries for the judges to decide. The judges included Manjula Sridhar, an entrepreneur, Harish Narsappa from Daksh, Yatish Kumar from Prajavani, Rasheed Kappan from Deccan Herald and Prakash Belawadi of Suchitra Film Society. The winners were:…

On a sunny afternoon in October, a herd of cattle nonchalantly crossed the Grand Southern Trunk Road at Alandur, posing a significant danger to the speeding vehicles on this highway. Diversions and minor collisions among bikers held up traffic here for about ten minutes. A few weeks later, a similar situation was witnessed on Jawaharlal Nehru Road in Koyambedu, where a rider fell as he tried to steer his vehicle away due to the sudden appearance of some cows on the road. The situation is similar in most suburbs, where stray cattle literally rest in the middle of the roads…

Chennai Metro Rail will connect two more sections with the airport in Tirusulam-Meenambakkam by March 2018: DMS on Anna Road and Chennai Central, the city’s most important rail terminal. With that linkage, the rail system will effectively connect suburban trains operating upto Arakkonam in the West and Gummidipoondi in the northwest, from Central. It already links the city’s central bus station, CMBT, with the airport by rail. The timeline for the new connections was recently highlighted by an executive of Chennai Metro Rail Limited to a group of visitors, including this writer. Connecting the premier rail head in the city,…

On Thursday, November 9, at 7:30 pm, Aditi (name changed) walked down a major thoroughfare in Mylapore, wading through a seeming ocean of people, towards Sai Baba Temple. They were there to pray to Shirdi Sai Baba (1838-1915), a saint who is considered by devotees today to be the representation of the supreme God. It is often said that Sai Baba grants anything a devotee asks for. A paduka, or wooden footwear, of the saint had been brought to the temple from Shirdi, the saint’s hometown, and they would soon be paraded along the streets around the temple. Aditi saw…

It was a heartrending sight. People sat or stood in groups watching their belongings being moved into lorries from the houses they had occupied for generations. The houses were being destroyed before their eyes, one by one. On Monday, November 20th, residents of the Thideer Nagar Slum on Greams Road had to vacate their houses under orders of the Corporation, the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) and the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust (CRRT). They are among the 603 odd families being moved to TNSCB’s new shelter at Perumbakkam as part of the Cooum River Eco-restoration Project. The TNSCB has…

The draft master plan for Bengaluru is finally out. This important document will shape how the city will develop and function for next 15 years. A press note from Bengaluru Development Authority mentions that ecological sustainability, mobility, inclusive growth and streamlined governance are the four pillar stones of the Revised Master Plan (RMP) for Bengaluru 2031 (Draft). The note states that the BDA "has evolved the RMP-2031 passing through a journey of series of surveys and studies with the technical support from Haskoning DHV in association with Adapt Technologies." Edited excerpts from the BDA press note: The GoK approved the…