Civic

It was not the first time, nor the last, but at 5.30 am on July 16th, around an hour after Metro services resumed, Vadapalani Station had no security officials to guard the baggage scanners or frisk commuters. Commuters who patiently followed rules by waiting at the baggage scanner were met with yells of the staff belonging to the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL). “Just collect your baggage and move,” shouted two staff members, pointing at the unmanned scanners and standing on the other side of the automated gates.  On July 18th, around 7 am, St Thomas Mount station saw a…

If you’ve lived long enough in Mumbai or even if you’ve just arrived, it won’t be long before you start feeling a clawing need for space. Think shoulder to shoulder travel in the Mumbai locals, which carry 7.5 million commuters every day, a number dangerously beyond its capacity. In 2014, Mumbai was ranked sixth on the list of the world’s most populous cities. It is predicted to become the fourth largest by 2030 with a population of 28 million. Yet people can’t seem to get enough of Mumbai. There is a constant influx of migrants looking for gainful employment. A…

Groundwater extraction without permission might invite action Hearing a public interest litigation petition filed against the illegal withdrawal of groundwater from private lands at Pidarithangal village in Poonamallee Taluk of Tiruvallur district, the Madras High Court has directed the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department to submit details on the number of permits issued across the city. The judges also pointed out that Section 5 of the Chennai Metropolitan Area Groundwater (Regulation) Act of 1987 mandates that any person who wants to extract groundwater for any purpose other than domestic and transport it through lorries should make an application to…

High Court to state: Why no law to regulate rallies in Bengaluru? High Court called the state government's conduct "contemptuous" for not putting in place a law to regulate public assemblies and processions in Bengaluru. The court was responding to a PIL filed by an advocate A V Amaranathan. He was seeking a direction to the state, to notify the Licensing and Controlling of Assemblies and Processions (Bangalore City) Order, 2008. The government had notified the draft order years ago. In April 2011, the High Court had disposed of PILs related to the problems caused by rallies and bandhs, after…

For the last three years, citizens plying on Medavakkam road are waiting for the Medavakkam-Koot road flyover to be ready so that their daily woes come to an end. This 4-km stretch has been in complete shambles, thanks to the ever-ongoing flyover construction that started in 2016, but the completion of which does not seem remotely imminent. Medavakkam road connects Tambaram with Pallikaranai and is also an important junction to reach the Elcot SEZ in Sholinganallur, a major hub for IT professionals in the city. This flyover will facilitate non-stop movement of vehicles between Pallikaranai and Tambaram, enabling them to…

In a packed Town Hall on Sunday, 14th July, citizens conferred the Corporator #1 Awards (Namma Samiti Puraskaara) to 51 BBMP corporators. Justice Santosh Hegde, chief guest at the event, honoured the winners with a traditional Mysuru Petta. The winners were chosen based on the number of ward committee meetings held in their wards so far - that is, between last December and this June.  Corporators who had held two-third of the monthly meetings - that is, at least four - have been conferred the award. Following are the award winners: Ward No Ward Name Corporator 5 Jakkur Muneendra Kumar…

Media, political cadre and scores of citizens were present at the Villivakkam railway yard on Friday morning, as the special train from Jolarpettai, carrying 2.5 million litres of water chugged in. The fact that the water train, festooned with flowers, was welcomed by hordes of people, underlines the magnitude of water scarcity in Chennai and the desperation with which citizens are looking for solutions. The train is at the centre of focus also because this is the first time in the past 18 years that Chennai has transported water.  But how will a trainload of water quench the thirst of…

On June 29th, hundreds of JP Nagar residents took part in a peace walk from MLR Convention Centre to Nandini Junction along 24th Main road. Our walk was against the illegal commercialisation and bad traffic planning along this stretch. Over 15,000 residents live around this 1.8 km-long stretch of 24th Main road. Thousands of commuters use it as well, but they take as much as 40-45 minutes to traverse it on a regular day. The reason is the unethical commercialisation of the area, which has led to infrastructure breakdown and deterioration of the neighbourhood. As per the Revised Master Plan (RMP…

Ward committees bring democracy to your doorstep, and give you a say in the planning and management of local work. The Nagarpalika Act, 1992, a central law, made ward committees mandatory for large cities. But this was not implemented in Bengaluru for long. It took years of citizen campaigning for ward committees to be formed at all. More recently, the High Court judgement in a PIL by the NGO Environment Support Group, and public outcry, compelled the Bengaluru Mayor to issue a direction to compulsorily hold ward committee meetings on the first Saturday of every month. Following this, the BBMP…

A collective of citizen's groups, working for various causes in the city, has been trying to ensure greater citizen participation in local government. The provision for citizens' participation in urban governance is enshrined in the 74th amendment of the Constitution. The group is of the view that the necessary notifications must be brought into effect at the state-level to extend these rights to citizen in urban centres across Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu, the avenue for citizens' participation is created by the Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2010. This law allows citizens to raise their voice through forums such…