Greater Chennai Corporation

As the city woke up to heavy rainfall a fortnight ago, Korattur lake once again faced the threat of a fresh bout of contamination with sewage-laden rainwater. If not for the intervention of pro-active citizens, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) would have cleared the surplus water canal to the Korattur Lake, to allow toxic water into the lake.  This is not the first time, though. GCC officials have been doing it every monsoon so as to prevent flooding in the roads of Ambattur and Korattur.  The absence of an underground sewerage system in the area and effluent treatment plants results…

On October 28th, the northeast monsoon set in over Tamil Nadu and Kerala. On the 29th, Chennai recorded the highest amount of rainfall in 24 hours since November 2017, as called out by weather expert Pradeep John. AreaRain (in cm)Mylapore (DGP office)18Anna University14Redhills Lake13Chennai district13Alandur, Sholinganallur8Ambattur9Source: IMD Chennai Koyambedu saw heavy rains lashing their neighbourhood on October 29th. As a result of which, people had to wade through knee-deep water. Pic: Avinash D But the writing has been on the wall for some time. A study titled ‘Future changes in precipitation extremes during northeast monsoon over south peninsular India’ by…

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and Chennai Smart City Limited (CSCL) conducted a 'cycling preferences survey' with an aim to understand the challenges faced by cyclists, improve the roads and make them cycle-friendly and promote cycling. It was done as part of the Cycles4Change Challenge, an initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, to inspire and support Indian cities to quickly implement cycling-friendly initiatives in response to COVID-19. A total of 1968 participants took part in the survey. Here are the results: Interestingly, the Greater Chennai Traffic Police Police (GCTP) experimented with a Dedicated Bicycle Lane (DBL) on Kamarajar…

Bright welcoming classrooms with mural-decked walls, kitchen gardens on campus to teach kids about sustainable lifestyles, and game-based interactive pedagogy to engage students and bring out the best in them. No, these are not scenes from any private school in the city, but how the Greater Chennai Corporation plans to give a facelift to several of its institutions.  Roping in a not-for-profit organisation called World Vision India, the civic body is beautifying 14 Corporation schools of Chennai. When children go back to the schools after a long break due to COVID-19, they are sure to be pleasantly surprised by the…

October 2. Gandhi Jayanti. Swachh Bharat Day. It was three years ago on this day that  the Greater Chennai Corporation mandated that all residents must segregate their waste at source, and only segregated waste would be collected by the workers of either GCC or Ramky, depending on which zone one lived in (I live in Zone 13- Adyar, one of the largest zones in the city.) The ensuing three years have been a journey of mixed experiences.. In many areas, citizen groups and resident welfare associations (RWAs), took upon themselves the task of ensuring source segregation of waste in their…

On March 18th, Chennai reported its first COVID case, that of a 20-year-old man who reached the city from New Delhi in a train. Fast forward by a little over four months, and the city has seen a total of 1,07,109 cases, with 11,720 active cases at present (figures as on August 7th). Due to two major clusters -- the returnees of Tablighi Jamaat congregation and Koyambedu market -- the city recorded thousands of cases in April and May. The good news, however, is that from reporting 3,000 odd cases every day, the city now records about 1,200 odd cases…

Chennaiites feel a slight sense of relief and hope, now that the number of COVID cases reported in the city has dipped considerably. However, the city will breathe easier when the mortality rate can be controlled. As on July 27th, a total of 2,032 patients had succumbed to the disease in Chennai. According to Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), Chennai’s overall mortality rate is 2.12% as on July 27th, which is marginally lower than the national average of 2.25% on the same date. However, within the state, it remains the highest and has been a cause of concern for citizens and…

With Chennai becoming Tamil Nadu’s COVID-19 epicentre, the city’s local economy has taken a hard hit. Many businesses are shutting down due to a multitude of reasons varying from reduced demand among citizens to unavailability of labour following the reverse migration to villages.    But as with most clouds, there is a silver lining here too. While most businesses are staring at an uncertain future, the pandemic has opened up a plethora of opportunities for disinfection service providers. The number of advertisements circulating in social media is testimony to it.  Exploring new avenues According to the Ministry of Health and Family…

Sample this: One drone disinfects 80,000 sq metres in a day, requiring negligible manpower and covering all nooks and corners of the city.  This technology, adopted by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to combat the spread of COVID-19, has caught the attention of many city residents. In a tie-up with Team Dhaksha (Aerospace Department) of Anna University, the civic body is using drones for spraying disinfectant across the city. Following a pilot run in the Corporation’s headquarters at Ripon Building using four drones, the project is to be extended across Chennai, according to the Corporation’s press release. We spoke to…

Translated by Krishna Kumar "கிணத்த காணோம், கிணத்த காணோம்!" - கண்ணும் கண்ணும் படத்தில் வடிவேலு காவல்துறையிடம் ஒரு திறந்த கிணற்றை காணவில்லை என்று பொய் புகார் கொடுத்து நம்மையெல்லாம் வயிறுகுலுங்க சிரிக்கவைத்த நகைச்சுவை காட்சியை யாரால் மறக்க முடியும். கிணறு ஒன்றை காணோம் எனும்பொழுது அவ்வளவு சிரித்தோம், ஆனால் நிஜத்தில் ஒரு நீர்நிலையே காணாமல் போகும் சாத்தியமுண்டா? அதிர்ச்சியூட்டும் விஷயம் தான், அனால் நடக்கிறது. சென்னை -திருவள்ளூர் நெடுஞ்சாலையில் 7 குளங்கள் அப்படிதான் காணாமல் போயுள்ளன. பல வருடங்களாவே இந்த குளங்கள் பொது மக்களாலும்,  சென்னை மாநகராட்சி மற்றும் தமிழ்நாடு குடிசைமாற்று வாரியம் போன்ற பல்வேறு அரசு துறைகளாலும் தொடர்ந்து ஆக்கிரமிப்புக்கு ஆளாகியுள்ளன.  ஒரு காலத்தில் [30 வருடங்களுக்கு முன்] குழந்தைகளும் பெரியோர்களும் அல்லி நிறைந்த இந்த குளங்களில் மீன்பிடித்து மகிழ்ந்தனர் ; பெண்கள் அங்கிருந்து தண்ணீர் எடுப்பது சகஜம். பண்டிகைகளுக்கு விளக்கேற்றி, கரையில் மக்கள் கூடிய காட்சிகள்…