GENRE: LN

How and why. Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials seem to be deliberately ignoring these two important questions, while executing the infrastructure projects. The ill-planned beautification work at Besant Nagar only bears that out. Besant Nagar (or Elliots) beach, with its fragile sandy coastal ecosystem, stares at destruction, thanks to all the work being carried out in the name of modernisation. Having received funds from the Tourism Ministry under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the civic body is all set to develop the beach as a mini tourist destination. The resulting slew of ongoing construction activities at Bessie appears to be disorganised and…

The aftermath of any festival leads to a lot of waste. Disposal management becomes an issue, not to mention the toll it takes on the environment. E-City Habba, a completely green event conducted at Electronic City with over 2000 audience, broke barriers by being one of the most unique festivals in Bengaluru. This extravaganza was organised by Electronic City Industrial Township Authority (ELCITA) the administrative body of Electronic City. They vouched to go green and upheld this promise in full spirit. This was one of the cleanest festivals; achieved by an initiative taken by ELCITA and graced by Infosys. The…

Submission of self declaration forms for revised property tax has been in the news for more than a month now. Despite multiple reports and clarifications by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials, there is still palpable uncertainty among citizens about the whole procedure. In an earlier article on the topic, Citizen Matters Chennai had explained the nitty gritty of self declaration and the procedure to submit these forms. Since then, the last date for submission of forms, has been revised to September 16th. As several questions continued to pour in from our readers, we met R Lalitha, IAS,  Deputy Commissioner,…

Three-month deadline for Bengaluru weddings to stop using plastic BBMP issued a notice on September 7th to marriage halls or kalyan mantapas, instructing them to stop using plastic material for functions, listing out all the alternative steps that may be taken to curb the plastic menace. The notice said that plate banks of steel, ceramic and melamine cutlery should be accumulated along with massive dishwashers to minimize wastage of water and maximise hygiene. Other recommendations include RO purifiers to supply drinking water, colour coded dustbins for segregation, avoidance of banana leaves that make segregation of wet-waste difficult, and setting up…

Kerala’s devastating floods in August set off alarm bells in Tamil Nadu. Municipal Administration minister S P Velumani chaired a state-level flood prevention review meeting on August 21st, around one-and-half months before the expected commencement of the north east monsoon in the first week of October. A slew of infrastructural projects were flagged off as part of monsoon preparatory work, including the desilting of storm water drains at a cost of Rs 20 crore and clearing of encroachments in water bodies. Preparatory work for the monsoon is usually taken up only a few weeks before the onset of the season,…

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Manjunath Prasad has said that properties in 110 villages added to BBMP in 2007, which are on B-Khatha list, will be regularised. These properties will be de-linked from the Akrama-Sakrama scheme, on which a public interest litigation is going on in the Supreme Court. It is not clear how many properties will benefit from this, and whether it will be vacant sites alone, or if it will include the built up properties as well. The statement comes in the backdrop of the Karnataka government's move to amend the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. This will regularise…

Can you travel from Kodambakkam in South Chennai to Dasaprakash on Poonamallee High Road (E.V.R Periyar High Road) at just Rs. 14, throwing in a short hop on the Chennai Metro also? Surprisingly, this is what the ride costs. If you are anywhere in a radius of 500 to 800 metres of the Kodambakkam Suburban Rail Station, it is just a ten minute walk to get there. With a five rupee ticket, you reach Chennai Egmore, where there a convenient transit point to the Chennai Metro. Without really stepping out of the complex, you reach the Metro station, and swiping your card,…

Chennai is eyeing significant strides in the coming months in solid waste management and implementation of environmental initiatives such as the plastic ban. Much of the possible success of these efforts hinges on the willingness and commitment of residents to comply with regulations and in some cases, their ability to go beyond the mandate to do their bit. To commend community initiatives of this nature, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has instituted a Green Award for recognized Resident Welfare Associations (RWA). A spokesperson of the PCB said that the initiative seeks to encourage residents to take part in environment-friendly efforts and…

Even as Bengaluru's waste generation has grown by 1,750% in 15 years, collection and management of the same have not kept pace. Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is planning a repeat of last year's trip to Singapore for many of its pourakarmikas in a few months, says Hari Shilpa, Assistant Commissioner of Administration, BBMP. They have issued notices to zonal level officers to send lists of potential candidates for the trip. Like last year, the four-day programme would probably include comprehensive sessions on safety gadgets and equipment, environment, beautification, the 50-year history of Singapore, water conservation, reuse and processing, collection…

A tiny kiosk on the congested DF Road in Mogappair bustles with customers on any week day. R Dakshinamurthy, the owner of the kiosk stall wears a smiling face, as he infuses tea leaves in the aluminum container and lets it brew for a few minutes. His happy face turns anxious whenever a police official walks towards the stall or passes by. Dakshinamurthy is an unauthorized vendor, who has been running the kiosk since three years ago, braving the constant threat of extortion from police and opposition from civil society. He is among the 27,050 vendors waiting for biometric cards…