Civic

From a homemaker, who had little knowledge of the workings of the outside world to being triumphant in the Chennai urban local body polls — and managing her ward — B Sumathi, Councillor of Ward 77, has charted an eventful journey. "My husband was quite active in the party and also involved in social work. Since, this was a ward reserved for women from scheduled castes, I was given a seat to contest. To my surprise, I won by a margin of 6,847 votes," says Sumathi. Speaking about her tenure so far, she says, "Though I was scared initially, I…

The highest ever budget for the richest civic body in the country, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), was presented on 2nd February by the Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal. This was his fourth time presenting the budget and the second time presenting it in lieu of an elected body. The BMC is slated to spend Rs 59,954.75 crore for the city of Mumbai. The focus of the budget is the completion of massive infrastructure projects such as the Mumbai Coastal Road project and the Goregaon Mulund Link Road. The Municipal Commissioner has drawn particular attention to the focus of the…

Turf club agrees to hand over 120 acres to BMC for a theme park For years this possibility has been discussed and debated but finally the iconic Mahalaxmi Racecourse is set to have a theme park on its land. Out of 1718 members of the Royal Western India Turf Club, only 708 cast their vote in the extraordinary general meeting that was called for this purpose. “The proposal received 540 votes in favour and 168 against. In return, the BMC has offered to renew the turf club's lease until 2053 and provide concessions such as building new stables and assisting…

Ennore protest against ammonia gas leak continues for more than a month More than a month has passed since the ammonia gas leak incident happened in Chennai's Ennore. The gas leak from the Coromandel International Limited (CIL) fertiliser plant led to the hospitalisation of over 50 people, while a couple of them had also undergone angioplasty surgery. Demanding the permanent closure of Coromandel, families from over 30 villages in and around Ennore have been protesting indefinitely since December 27. Following the gas leak incident, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which took up a suo motu case, has directed the Tamil…

Kannada signboards issue deepens Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot sent back to the cabinet an ordinance on the use of 60% Kannada in commercial signboards. He advised the government to pass it through the Assembly. Traders have demanded that the deadline for implementation should be extended beyond February 28th. Meanwhile, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath said that the civic body has issued notices to 49,241 shops for not following the name board order. He said that only 16,813 shops have boards with 60% Kannada display. He asked zonal officials to take strict action if shops fail to implement…

According to the recently released 2023 Bengaluru Crime Data, there is a significant gap between reported and detected crimes in the city.  In 2023, 12,627 cases of total crimes were reported, of which only 3,603 crimes were detected. This shows a gap of 71.48% between reported and detected cases. From 2022 to 2023, there seems to have been a 36% rise in crimes across the city, driven by various motives. However, sudden and grave provocation topped the list for motives. “We can never definitely say that crime has increased or decreased, because crime is always there, only the trend in…

Six months ago, the Tambaram City Municipal Corporation carried out work on East Main Road and West Main Road in  Sri Prashanthi Colony, Madambakkam. In the past ten years, these roads were re-laid three times and each time, their heights increased considerably. The new roads came as a relief for residents only until the onset of the Northeast monsoon in 2023.  As the interior roads including the 2nd, 3rd and 4th cross streets of Sri Prashanthi Colony have not been re-laid, excess water runs down to these roads which now lie at a lower level compared to  the main roads.…

Final electoral rolls: Chennai has 39 lakh voters The Greater Chennai Corporation has published the electoral rolls after the final summary revision for 2024 and the number of voters in Chennai district stand at 39.01 lakh in 16 assembly constituencies. Women voters have outnumbered men since there are 3,14,85,724 women electors as opposed to 3,03,96,330 men. According to the Electoral Officer, in total, Tamil Nadu has 6.18 crore voters, with the constituency of Sholinganallur in Chengalpet district recording the highest number of voters. In Chennai, Velachery has the largest electorate in the city with more than 3 lakh registered voters.…

75th Republic Day highlights A detailed project report (DPR) to build a 2-km tunnel road in the city to solve traffic issues is in process, said Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot in his 75th Republic Day address. Other issues that he highlighted included those of farmers, unemployment, health and Bengaluru's civic problems. He also mentioned the progress of the Karnataka government’s five guarantees schemes. The government had deployed more than 575 police personnel and installed 100 surveillance cameras across the city and even at Manekshaw Parade Ground just before the celebrations. Police Commissioner B Dayanand said that 1,000 police officials were deployed to…

Mumbai Marathon: Increased participation, tragic deaths Tata Mumbai Marathon 2024 saw a record participation of a total of 59, 515 participants, who ran in seven different categories. Held on January 21st , the prestigious Mumbai event, witnessed senior citizens, students and activists apart from athletes, running for various civic issues and fundamental rights. Hayle Lemin from Ethiopia defended the title while clocking a timing of two hours and seven minutes. Other winners in elite men's category and elite women's category were from Ethiopia as well. However, in a tragic turn of events, two participants died during the course of the…