Greater Chennai Corporation

Poor quality roads, with stretches of potholes and uneven patchwork are a common sight in Chennai. Newly-laid roads are often dug up by government agencies shortly after. As a result, complaints pertaining to fixing roads take longer than needed as authorities perpetually shift the blame to other departments. This stems from the fact that citizens are generally unaware of the technicalities involved in laying roads in Chennai. Here is an explainer on the kind of roads laid in Chennai, where to complain about them, how we can escalate matters and how citizens can keep a watch.   Chennai roads and the…

The pandemic has not only been a health emergency, but also a huge blow on the economic front. Many people lost their jobs while many more have faced pay cuts. Some like R Sunitha stepped up to the challenge by starting their own business ventures. Sunitha, who lost her job, became a home chef during the lockdown. "I took it very hard initially when I lost my job. But I knew I had to pull my act together to earn during the pandemic. I applied for a trade licence and started my own food business and became a home chef,"…

Chennai’s checkered history of water management has come under the spotlight every time the city has found itself face to face with a crisis, such as the catastrophic floods of 2015 or the unprecedented drought faced by the city in 2019. Experts have repeatedly called for better management of water resources, alluding to the fact that the city’s many water bodies could be the answer to its water woes, if they are managed better. There have, in fact, been some concerted efforts in recent years to restore and manage the tanks and lakes in Chennai. However, there are multiple organisations…

Decentralised Micro Composting Centres, garden waste processing units — Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has initiated a slew of projects in the past two years, said N Mahesan, Chief Engineer, Solid Waste Department (SWD), GCC. He was speaking at the webinar conducted by Citizen Matters Chennai on managing waste during and post COVID-19. When the trial run for the Bio-CNG plants in Chetpet, which converts kitchen and food waste to energy, is completed, the civic body will inaugurate six more such facilities. “Through these plants, we can process 1500-1800 tonnes of wet waste,” said Mahesan.  In addition to the Material Recovery Facilities…

Overflowing dustbins, irregular collection of garbage and mounds of unsegregated mixed wastes -- these are the stuff that every Chennaiite's nightmares are made up of. But thanks to the efforts of the Chennai Corporation, civic activists and citizens, the city had made significant positive strides in solid waste management before the onset of the pandemic.  The city corporation decentralised waste collection and segregation. Through the Zero Waste initiative, the civic body set up a system where collection and segregation took place at various points at the zonal level, with subsequent processing at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and Micro Composting…

Equipped with a non-contact thermometer and oxymeter, A Sumathi, a fever surveillance worker employed by the Greater Chennai Corporation, knocks at the door of S Raja in Anna Nagar every morning. Her job: to enquire about the latter's well-being and his family, and provide any assistance they may need. This is a source of assurance for Raja, who feels safe that his family is being tracked on a day-to-day basis for over a year now. A few days ago, when his wife, R Rani, developed symptoms of COVID, he immediately sought Sumathi's help for testing and triaging. “The fever survey worker…

Translated by Sandhya Raju கடந்த சில வார காலமாகவே, சென்னையில் தொற்று அதிகரித்து வருகிறது. ஏப்ரல் 23-ம் தேதி, 3842 பேருக்கு தொற்று உறுதி செய்யப்பட்டது. புதிய வடிவை பெற்று கொரோனா வைரஸ் வேகமாக பரவும் நிலையில், பல நகரங்களில் படுக்கை, மருந்துகள் மற்றும் ஆக்சிஜன் ஆகியவற்றிற்கு தட்டுப்பாடு ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது. இதனால் மக்கள் பீதி அடைந்துள்ளனர். அவர்களுக்கோ, அவர்கள் குடும்பத்தினருக்கோ தொற்று ஏற்பட்டால் அடுத்து என்ன செய்வது, எப்படி சமாளிப்பது போன்ற பயம் ஏற்பட்டுள்ளதை புரிந்து கொள்ள முடிகிறது. நேர விரயமின்றி, எவ்வாறு மருத்துவ வசதி பெறுவது, படுக்கை பெற தாமதமானால் என்ன செய்ய வேண்டும் போன்ற உறுதி செய்யப்பட்ட தகவல்கள் மற்றும் வழிகாட்டுதல்களை இங்கே தொகுத்துள்ளோம். முதலில் அறிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டியவை: தொற்று அறிகுறிகள், பரிசோதனை மையங்கள் இருமல், காய்ச்சல், மூச்சு விடுவதில் சிரமம், தொண்டை கரகரப்பு, மூக்கடைப்பு, தலை வலி, உடல் வலி, வாசனை மற்றும் சுவையின்மை…

The city has been witnessing a steady rise in the number of new COVID cases since the past few weeks. On April 23rd, the city recorded 3,842 fresh COVID cases. With the extremely high contagion rates of the virus in its mutated forms, the numbers have been spiralling out of control, creating shortage in the availability of beds, drugs and even oxygen in many cities. Naturally, the panic among citizens is also palpable and it is neither uncommon nor unnatural to find people grappling with uncertainty over what to do and how to respond if they, or any of their…

Chennai is one among the many urban civic bodies in Tamil Nadu that has not had local body elections in the last 10 years. The state government has been administering the cities and towns by appointing special officers in place of the Mayor and councillors. There has been a lot of hue and cry over the absence of an elected local government, but with little effect. Now with the State Assembly elections around the corner, will it pave the way for conduct of municipal elections? Can we expect to see concrete reforms in urban governance? Will Chennai and other cities in…

A vertical pole stands tall at the Ashok Pillar junction, right next to the bus stop. Apart from a loudspeaker, a street lighting system and a CCTV camera fixed to the pole, it also sports a Wi-Fi router. Any member of the public can access free Wi-Fi in this area for half-an-hour at the speed of 2Mbps. That’s a smart pole for you! Chennai has 50 such smart poles.  Internet service for the 50 smart poles has been provided by Airtel, as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. According to a senior official from Chennai Smart City Limited, the approximate…