Greater Chennai Corporation

Translated by Sandhya Raju Bustling all day, this city is similar to a baby that actively plays around all day, finishing tired, having to be tidied up only to go about the same routine all over again. The role of conservancy workers in keeping our city streets clean deserves plaudits. The service that they have been providing especially during the pandemic as frontline workers is commendable! But how many of us really take time to acknowledge and appreciate the indispensable work that they do for us every day? The purpose of this article is to shed light on the ethical…

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) with 20 other corporations recently saw the conduct of municipal elections after a gap of 6 years. Since India advocates the theory of “Democracy at the grassroots level”, city governments play an important role in the governance structure. They are directly related to the daily life of the citizens.  The 12th Schedule of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA), 1992 recognises the Indian Government Structure in 3 tiers: central, state and local. The 74th CAA devolves powers and functions to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). This is done to enable them to function as the third…

Cities are drivers of economic growth in any country. They start attracting people as they develop economically. Cities also play an important support role in the development of the rural hinterland. In the past few decades, the Indian economy has grown rapidly which shows the high population growth in urban areas in India.  However, this rapid growth has not been managed very well and urban India is increasingly seeing problems such as, inadequate infrastructure for the growing population, poor service delivery, pollution, poor health care, housing, irregular elections and other issues that continue to impede cities across India from achieving…

இந்த நகரம், சுறு சுறுப்பாக இயங்கி கொண்டு இருக்கும் ஒரு குழந்தை! தினமும் இது ஓடி, ஆடி, விளையாடி  களைத்து வரும்! மீண்டும் காலையில் இதை புதிப்பித்து, அழகுசேர்த்து , சீர்படுத்தி  பள்ளி செல்லும் பிள்ளை போல அழகாக மாற்றுவது  தூய்மை பணியாளர்களே!  நமது பகுதிகளை சுத்தமாக வைத்துக்கொள்ள தூய்மை பணியாளர்கள் வகிக்கும் பங்கு என்பது ஒரு மகத்தான போற்றுதலுக்குரிய பெரும் பங்கு, அவர்கள் மிகவும் பாராட்டுதலுக்குரியவர்கள். குறிப்பாக இந்த கொரோனா காலகட்டத்தில் முன்கள  பணியாளர்களாக அவர்கள் செய்த, செய்து கொண்டு இருக்கின்ற சேவை, மிகவும் போற்றத்தக்கது! ஆனால் நம்மில் எத்தனைபேர் அவர்களை, அவர்களின் இன்றியமையாத பணியை, அங்கீகரிக்கிறோம்? திருக்குறள்:  ஒழுக்கத்து நீத்தார் பெருமை விழுப்பத்து வேண்டும் பனுவல் துணிவு.  மு.வரதராசன் விளக்கம்: ஒழுக்கத்தில் நிலைத்து நின்று பற்று விட்டவர்களின் பெருமையைச் சிறந்ததாக போற்றி கூறுவதே நூல்களின் துணிவாகும். சஞ்சீவி குமார், மேரி, எடிசன், பழனியம்மாள் ஆகிய  தூய்மை பணியாளர்களின் நேர்மையை போற்றி கூறுவதே இந்த கட்டுரையின் சிறப்பாகும். சமீபத்தில் சென்னை, புழலில் உள்ள தனியார் நிறுவனத்தில் தூய்மை…

Zone snapshot: Wards - 168, 169, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191 Population - 322728 (2013) Number of polling stations - 279 To locate your polling station - https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone - https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the zone: Poor civic amenities in many slums in the zone are a persistent issue. Residents of Kallukuttai slum have decided to boycott the civic polls on account of not having basic facilities despite living in the area for nearly four decades. They demand better roads, drainage facilities and solutions to water shortage in the summer months. Many roads…

Zone Snapshot: Wards- 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108 Population- 757273 (2013) Polling Stations- 572 To locate your polling station – https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone – https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the Zone: In January of 2021, the waste collection in 11 out of 15 zones were handed over to private companies. Zone 8, was one of the zones where a waste collection contract was handed to Ramky Enviro Engineers (a private envrionmetal services company). The company absorbed around a 100 workers, and the rest (who were employed under the…

Zone snapshot Wards -170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182 Population - 490767 (2013) Number of polling stations - 471 To locate your polling station - https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone - https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the zone: Traffic congestion at Madhya Kailash Junction is a key issue that affects commuters. Those looking to travel to the airport or southern parts of the city face long hours of commute during peak hours in the area due to traffic jams. Overflowing sewage and old sewage pipes are an issue in Adyar. The old pipes leak…

Wards -156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167 Population - 239382 (2013) Number of polling stations - 200 To locate your polling station - https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone - https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the zone: Recent spell of rains left areas under Manapakkam and Mugalivakkam inundated for days. Residents were forced to stay indoors for close to two days as the water-logging did not recede in many parts. A lack of proper stormwater drains coverage across the zone has been cited as the reason for the flooding. Traffic issues are frequent at the MIOT…

Zone snapshot Wards -143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155 Population - 433077 (2013) Polling stations - 309 To locate your polling station - https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone - https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Counting station - MGR College of Engineering, Maduravoyal Issues in the zone Encroachment of water bodies has been a key issue in the zone. Large scale flooding has taken place as a result of such encroachment during the rains of 2021. The Ambattur lake channel has seen construction on it, leading to water stagnation in many parts of the zone. Shrinking…

Zone snapshot Wards: 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93 Polling stations: 439 Population: 715079 (2013) To locate your polling station – https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone – https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the zone: Residents have been demanding that Metro Water implement sewer connections for houses in areas such as Oragadam, Venkatapuram and  Kallikuppam. Wards 82, 85 and 86 are yet to get underground drain connections. Residents have also pressed for the long overdue widening of Rail Over Bridge at Ambattur OT to reduce traffic congestion, but the construction is yet to happen. This plan was part of a…