URBAN PLANNING

With just two days to go for Phase 2 of the 17th Lok Sabha Polls, civic campaigns complement the Election Commission of India's back-to-back activities on creating awareness about the right to vote. As part of the Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) activities by the Election Commission, Greater Chennai Corporation has organised various activities such as Parasailing, bike rally and workshops to reach out to the voters. The website of the Chief Electoral officer, Tamil Nadu is filled with awareness videos by eminent film personalities such as Vijay Sethupathi and Vivek. Created by the Election Commission, #MakeYourMarkTN is…

On World Water Day, conservation is the buzzword. The Internet is flooded with tips on how to conserve water and the need to focus on water as a scarce resource. Many resident welfare associations in Chennai are organising awareness sessions to educate people about water economics. But, ironically perhaps, World Water Day this year has come just a day after Holi, exposing the huge gaps in awareness and responsibility among many sections of the people, still. Just a day ago, the city celebrated Holi in a grand manner, but wasted gallons of water in the process, creating artificial rain. “The…

Various citizen collectives and individuals gathered at Maurya Circle on Saturday, demanding cancellation of tenders called for the elevated corridor project. When Citizens Live spoke to the protesters, a range of opinions emerged. Some were clear that the project should be scrapped, while some others said that due process including public consultations should be followed first. However, the general consensus was that public transport should be prioritised over mega projects like the elevated corridor that only encourage car ownership further. https://youtu.be/mQWAOY-jf-g

On Saturday, March 16th, Bengaluru saw a gathering of thousands of people who came together to demand for cancellation of the controversial elevated corridor and to better public transport, footpaths and safe cycling and a more balanced and sustainable development of Bangalore and rest of Karnataka as well. This mass action was organized by a large coalition of citizen groups’ in response to the awarding of environmental clearance for the controversial elevated corridors project and floating of tender for Phase 1 of Elevated Corridors. Since the govt. announced its intention of taking up 100 km elevated corridors in the city,…

The Government of Karnataka proposes a long network of elevated traffic corridors, totalling close to 90 kilometres in length, to alleviate congestion in Bengaluru, and recently floated a tender for the first phase of the project. This tender, and subsequent ones to follow, are on the basis of a detailed feasibility report commissioned by Karnataka Road Development Corporation and prepared by a trio of private consultants engaged for the purpose. The report only mentions the construction cost of the project, which is over Rs. 19,000 crores. There have been press reports that claim once land acquisition and other costs are…

With the Metrorail’s first phase now fully operational across the city, the organisation in charge, Chennai Metrorail Limited (CMRL), has begun planning for the second phase. Spanning over 119 km across three corridors, this project is expected to go for tendering by June this year. Soil testing is now ongoing in various parts of the city. The enthusiasm for the project is palpable, what with the first phase having shown how it can benefit the public. This is also time to ponder over how this phase can be handled in a more efficient manner than the first. The initial phase…

Reports about a third desalination plant, with a capacity of 550 million litres a day (MLD), have raised hopes among Chennaites. Convinced that their water woes can be successfully addressed with advanced technology, citizens welcome the state government’s proposal of the plant that would make sea water potable. But, are desalination plants really the solution we need? Environmentalists are often deeply critical of pollution caused by desalination plants. But, even if we put aside the concerns around environmental damage  for the present discussion, desalination plants themselves do not appear to be economically viable for the city. An extravagant affair The…

"Fire safety plan should be made part of the city plan," emphasised Dr. A Ravindra, former Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, while delivering the Beyond Carlton Memorial Lecture ' Our cities on Fire'. The lecture which was held on the 23rd of February at the Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services Headquarters, marked nine years since fire broke out at Carlton towers on Old Airport Road, claiming nine lives. The event saw the launch of the Campaign -  Fire Risk Assessments for Apartments. The campaign is a collaboration between Beyond Carlton, Bengaluru Apartments Federation (BAF), Citizen Matters, Jain University and When…

Translated by Krishna Kumar சென்னையில் கோடை காலம் இப்போது தான் ஆரம்பம், ஆனால் இப்போதுள்ள நிலைமையை பார்த்தால் கொடூரமாக இருக்கும் என்று தான் கணிக்க முடியும். சென்னையின் தேவையை பூர்த்தி செய்ய தேவையான 50% தண்ணீர் மட்டும் தான் நம்மிடம் உள்ளது.பல இடங்களில் தண்ணீர் சேவை வாரம் ஒருமுறை மட்டுமே என்று குறைக்க பட்டுள்ளது. நிலத்தடிநீர் நிலைமையோ கடந்த மூன்று வருடத்தில் குறைவாக உள்ளது மற்றும் ஏரி நீர்தேக்கங்கள் அதைவிட மோசமான நிலை. நிலத்தடி நீர் நிலைமை பொதுவாக ஏப்ரல், மே மாதங்களில் உள்ள அளவுக்கு இப்போதே தள்ளப்பட்டுள்ளது. ஜனவரி முதல் வாரத்தில் சென்னை சேர்ந்த 24 கிணறுகளில் எடுத்த கணக்கின்படி நிலத்தடி நீர் நிலை வெகுவாக குறைந்துள்ளது - மூன்று ஆண்டுகளில் இதுதான் மோசம். பெரிய மழை வரும் வாய்ப்பு குறைவு என்பதால் இந்நிலை மேலும் மோசமாகத்தான் போகும் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கலாம். குறைந்துவரும் நீர்நிலை மழை மய்யம் (The…

Bengalureans will get a chance to showcase their love for the city this Valentines Day. The Bengaluru Civic Fest organised by IChangeMyCity (an initiative of Janaagraha) along with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be held on the 14th of February at Freedom Park from 10 am to 8 pm. The festival will be a platform where various civil society organisations and groups discuss their work, government agencies communicate their work with citizens and school children will discuss their participation with local governments. The festival will see the presence of BBMP mayor and Corporators. Sapna Kareem, coordinator, Civic Participation, Janaagraha,…