INTERVIEWS

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the Smart Cities Mission in 2015, which aims to execute ‘smart solutions’ that help develop cities in a people-friendly, sustainable way. Chennai Smart City Limited (CSCL) is the local arm of this initiative. It is also the organisation behind the upcoming pedestrian plaza at T-Nagar and other key projects. Below are excerpts from a chat with its CEO, Raj Cherubal. What is your vision of a Smart Chennai? The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has the concept of a liveability index, which basically focuses on improving the quality of life. Electronics,…

As the eighth woman to become Bengaluru's Mayor, Gangambike Mallikarjun has had an eventful tenure since she took charge in September 2018. She prioritised ward committee meetings much to the pleasure of those who had been fighting for it for years, weathered the political turmoil at Vidhana Soudha, and even sheepishly coughed up fines (twice) for using plastic bags. With less than a week left for her to step down from office, she sat down for a chat with Citizens' Live, to talk about all she could accomplish in her tenure and couldn't accomplish. Her major achievement that made headlines,…

We often hear about encroachments and solid waste sounding the death knell for water bodies in Chennai. Villivakkam Lake is no exception; it shares the same plight as any other water body in the city. However, it is set to change. Corporation officials say that the transformation of this 36.5 acre lake will be revolutionary -- replete with state-of-the art recreation facilities such as walkway, gym, children's play area, library, food and play courts, open air theatre and a multipurpose lawn. Greater Chennai Corporation will adopt Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)’s natural process of treating wastewater and use it for…

The timber mafia in Jharkhand. Rampant mining in Jharkhand and Goa. Overdependence on borewells and low groundwater recharge in Andhra Pradesh -- Deforestation, unsustainable land use practices and the slow but steady expansion of urbanised, industrial areas have led to nearly 30 per cent of India’s total land area undergoing degradation. Thus concern over desertification, which is expected to affect 900 million people in 100 countries (mostly in the global south) and which threatens almost 41 per cent of the total land area on the Earth, is a real concern for every citizen in this country. The 14th Conference of…

Picture this: No jet black smoke from vehicles. No constant noise from engines. No toxic carbon-laden air to choke your lungs as you walk along a city thoroughfare. It might sound Utopian now, but if there is a boom in electric mobility, this ideal could well become reality on Chennai roads. One of the first steps towards that has been by a private auto service provider, Makkal Auto, which rolled out the city’s first electric auto last week (August 25), . The initiative has garnered appreciation from Chennaites for two reasons: one, electric autos would reduce emissions and pave the…

If you are a parent, you’d know how challenging it is to keep a young child still for more than a few minutes. From constant requests for loo breaks and a gazillion questions about everything, to (god forbid) fights if there is another child, it is not for nothing parents learn referring skills early on. A child’s development is a fluid, dynamic process. Nature, nurture and culture/arts are among the factors that help a child grow to be a well-rounded individual. The first two accommodate, and even encourage, a child’s need to explore and be restless. But how do you…

Vishwanath Srikantaiah, popularly known as the 'Rainman', has been in the news recently for his ambitious project to build one million recharge wells in Bengaluru. Given the dire situation we find ourselves in vis-à-vis water, the initiative could not have come at a better time. While Vishwanath has been the face of this project, a tiny community has been helping with the groundwork - the Bovi community who are the traditional well-diggers of Bengaluru. Our guest on Citizens Live this week is Ramakrishna Bovi, who has been working with Vishwanath to recharge Bengaluru's groundwater. So why is this important? While…

Chennaiites who have lived through the devastating floods of 2015 can attest to how the event and its aftermath has had a lasting impact on the city. The sudden and massive scale of the deluge saw scores dead and many lose their homes and possessions. Rebuilding from a catastrophe such as this is a long process that the residents come to grips with it over many years. Krupa Ge's evocative book Rivers Remember: #CHENNAIRAINS and The Story of a Manmade Flood delves into the various aspects of the fateful events that led to the lathe scale flooding. The book deconstructs…

The occasional spells of rains have brought some relief to Chennai. But that should not cloud the fact that the city went without any significant rainfall for about 200 days at a stretch. Rainfall patterns have become erratic in Chennai, with a spike in extreme weather events such as cyclonic storms and heat waves. Even though a large number of people -- in civil society as well as in the government -- are sceptical about attributing it to climate change, scientists do feel that there is a strong connect. Citizen Matters Chennai spoke to Dr V Selvam, former Executive Director…

The #MeToo movement in India gathered momentum in the south when playback singer Chinmayi Sripada exposed popular Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu for sexually harassing her during a show and threatened to end her career after she did not give in to his overtures. A dubbing artist too, Chinmayi was  expelled from South Indian Cine and Television Artistes and Dubbing Artistes Union following her allegations against Vairamuthu. She disclosed that she was slut shamed  and there was also a concerted effort to destroy her career in the film industry. More recently, the Justice S.A. Bobde in-house committee has given the Chief Justice…