Civic

Driving down from Hebbal to Tin Factory, as you cross the Kasturi Nagar flyover, you may occasionally chance upon a lone crane or two, circling over a water body on the left. It may create a pretty picture, but this was not the case until sometime ago. Situated along the Old Madras road and stretching up to the Tin Factory bus stop is the Benniganahalli lake. Not quite visible from the main road, many citizens had become aware of the lake only when it started frothing a few years back due to the untreated sewage flowing into it from nearby…

Flood mitigation project gets central nod The Central government has given its nod for a comprehensive flood mitigation project and has recommended it to the World Bank for loan assistance. The project that is expected to take off in six months will help reduce the vulnerability of several localities to floods in different river basins, including lower Palar, Araniyar, and Kosasthalaiyar. Additional storage of nearly 4.76 thousand million cubic feet will also be created to cater to the drinking water needs of the city. Various structures, including check dams, recharge wells and sub-surface dykes, will be constructed in rivers as…

  Garbage crisis in city as dumpsite fills up The city seems to be slipping into a garbage crisis, as the Bellahalli quarry has filled up and there are no other options to dispose of the mounds of waste in the city. Due to sporadic rains, garbage piles are turning into breeding grounds for mosquito armies as well. This could add to the increasing cases of dengue and chikungunya in the city. Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun said that garbage could be dumped in the Bellahalli landfill for another month, but muddy roads were preventing garbage trucks from reaching the landfill. The…

The newly introduced Dial for Water 2.0 scheme by the Metro Water Department is being billed as the panacea for long delays in  water supply, but it could be a classic case of the cure turning out to be worse than the disease. As per the new scheme, one has to make an on-line payment while booking is made.  This means that only those who have the wherewithal to make on-line payment can make the bookings. The new scheme says it will not allow a consumer to make further bookings if he does not confirm receipt of the previous supply…

“The beauty of Shimla lies in its conceptualisation by the Britishers,” says Dr Ravinder Dhiman, a Shimla-based history researcher. “Primarily, it was modelled as a hill station for their summer recess. Yet most features and facilities built by them were similar to the Smart City concepts currently being drawn up. But in the existing conditions, these smart city concepts sound utterly unrealistic and highly impracticable”. Shimla is one of the 30 urban centres chosen under the Smart City Mission launched by PM Narendra Modi in 2015. The Rs 2,905 crore project, which has been approved by the centre, aims at…

Welcome relief as Chennai records excess rainfall After the longest ever dry spell experienced by the city, the southwest rains have brought in much-needed relief for the city over the last couple of months. According to reports, Chennai has also recorded excess rainfall of over 50% since June. Though the rainfall has been in short isolated spells, the few short and heavy spells in the city and suburbs have statistically resulted in excess rainfall this southwest monsoon. The Meteorological department has forecast more rains during the nights in the coming days. Weather experts have also predicted more rains in the…

BBMP to battle UDD move to allow ad hoardings The BBMP is gearing up to battle the Urban Development Department's (UDD) plan to allow advertisement hoardings in the city again. On July 15th, UDD had notified the draft BBMP Advertisement Rules, 2019, but BBMP officials say they were not consulted beforehand. The BBMP Council had decided to ban hoardings in the city about a year back. The UDD notification came just three days after the High Court stayed the BBMP's resolution to ban hoardings. UDD has also invited objections and suggestions on its draft notification. On Monday, the BBMP Council…

Four months after the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) initiated serious action on waste reduction and management in the city, the civic body is beginning to see the results. According to statistics obtained from Chennai Corporation, the daily average of garbage collected in Chennai has fallen from 5098 Metric Tonnes (MT) in March to 4493 MT in June, a reduction of 605 MT. In other words, Chennai Corporation is stopping an average of 18000 MT of waste from reaching the already burdened landfills of Perungudi and Kodungaiyur every month. Roadmap to reduction Here are the five steps being followed by Chennai Corporation…

It is now around five years since the Central Government announced its Smart City project, under the auspices of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The mission, aimed at 100 cities of India, was meant to make them function better under various heads such as Mobility, Energy, Water, Technology and Environment. It was expected that these initiatives would improve the quality of life, get people to participate in governance, bring about transparency in the functioning of those in authority and promote public consultation. It is a moot point as to whether any of this has been achieved. The Short and…

Chennai had a severely deficient monsoon in 2018 with 40% less rain than normal. Since then, the city has been bracing itself for a water crisis. But clearly not enough had been done and the severe water scarcity this summer has been a wake-up call for people, highlighting the urgency of finding ways to use their water resources better. Though rainwater harvesting was made mandatory in 2003 when the city experienced similar drought like conditions, the idea has been poorly implemented across the city. With the recent water crisis, the focus has shifted to efforts that the citizens can undertake…