INTERVIEWS

With the onset of summer, Chennai has already started facing water woes. Veeranam Lake, one of the sources of drinking water supply for Chennai has dried up. Meanwhile, the storage level in Cholavaram Lake has come down to 9.99%. As of May 5, the reservoir sources in the city have a storage of 49.42%. Will Chennai face yet another drought like in 2019? This is one fear that residents of the city come face to face with every summer. And this year seems to be no different. To know how the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) is…

At Citizen Matters, our election coverage is focused almost entirely on data, long form journalism and in-depth conversations with candidates, not about party politics but their vision and policies for the constituency. Yet the challenge of getting 30 minutes with a Union Minister a few days before the campaign ended was always going to be difficult. We finally managed to get her to give us five minutes in a moving car and here is what she shared with us.  Shobha Karandlaje, the JD(S)-BJP coalition candidate from Bangalore North is one of the better known women candidates in the fray for…

An election campaign in this gruelling summer has been an exhausting exercise even for the most seasoned politicians. Rajeev Gowda, the Congress Party candidate for Bangalore North constituency, admitted as much. But he says, it also highlights the urgency for the measures to combat climate change and his plans for the constituency, should he be elected.  After more than two decades in politics, the former Rajya Sabha MP is all set to fight it out for a Lok Sabha berth for the first time.           We caught up with the former professor of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) at…

Mansoor Ali Khan, from Indian National Congress (INC), is all set to contest for Bangalore Central Parliamentary Constituency this Lok Sabha Elections. In an interview with Citizen Matters, Mansoor spoke about his plans for his constituency if he gets elected as MP and the key issues he would like to address. Mansoor Ali Khan: Political family, educational entrepreneur Mansoor Ali Khan is the son of K. Rahman Khan, who is a veteran politician belonging to the Indian National Congress (INC) and a former Union Minister of Minority Affairs and Ex-Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Mansoor was one of the two…

Arvind Sawant, who has served two terms as the MP from Mumbai South, is raring to go as he prepares to fight for a third term. His opponents are a divided house and the official candidate is yet to be announced here. Leaders such as Rahul Narwekar, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Yeshwant Jadhav are eyeing this seat. So is Milind Deora, who has already been nominated to the Rajya Sabha now and had previously lost to Sawant in the two Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019.  Mumbai South is comprised of the assembly constituencies of Colaba, Mumbadevi, Byculla, Malabar Hill,…

As India gets ready to vote to decide who will represent the country in Parliament, Citizen Matters is speaking to elected representatives from Chennai, ahead of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. As part of this series, we did an email interview with T Sumathy alias Thamizhachi Thangapandian, incumbent MP from Chennai South constituency. Thamizhachi has been given the ticket by her party DMK to contest from the same constituency in the 2024 polls. Chennai South and Thamizhachi Thangapandian Chennai South constituency comprises of Mylapore, Saidapet, Virugambakkam, Velachery, Sholinganallur and Thyagaraya Nagar. A poet, writer, educationist and theatre person, Thamizhachi is the daughter…

As India gets ready to vote to decide who will represent the country in Parliament, Citizen Matters is speaking to elected representatives from Chennai, ahead of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. As part of this series, we had a chat with Kalanidhi Veerasamy, incumbent MP from Chennai North constituency. Dr Kalanidhi has been given the ticket by his party DMK to contest from the same constituency in the 2024 polls. Read more: Lok Sabha 2024: Know your MP — Dr Kalanidhi Veerasamy, Chennai North Chennai North and Dr Kalanidhi Veerasamy The Lok Sabha constituency of Chennai North is composed of six…

As India gets ready to vote to decide who will represent them in Parliament, Citizen Matters is speaking to elected Parliamentary representatives from Mumbai. We will ask them about the work they have done for the city, policies have they supported and why Mumbaikars should cast votes in their favour (or of their political parties). As part of this series, we spoke to Gopal Shetty, who represented Mumbai North for the past two terms. Shetty has now been replaced by Piyush Goyal by his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who will be seeking votes based on the work done by…

The Kilambakkam bus terminus has been marred by controversies ever since it opened to the public. Why was the terminus opened in such a hurry? Why did the CMDA award the contract for Operation and Maintenance to a single concessionaire? What is going to come up at the location of Koyambedu bus stand? Chennai residents are looking for answers to all these questions. To get a clear picture about the operations of the new terminus and put all controversies to rest, we spoke with CMDA Member Secretary, Anshul Mishra. Here is what the CMDA has to say about the issues.…

A family of professional singers disguise themselves to take their loved one, a young girl with mental illness, for treatment in the psychiatric hospital. Such is the stigma of mental health disorders. While this was decades ago, the perception of such disorders has changed for the better, over the years. As she narrates this incident, Dr R Padmavathi, Director of Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF), a premium non-governmental organisation in mental health care in Chennai, says while healthcare delivery has made great strides, we still have a long way to go in awareness and overcoming stigma about mental disorders.      According…