Civic

The number of water bodies in Chennai has been on the decline, as they become victims of encroachment and negligence. Last year, the Chennai Smart City Mission, sought help from corporate organisations to restore these water bodies, especially ponds, within city corporation limits. With funds from the corporates and the civic body, a few environmental organisations collaborated with citizens to work on the restoration. This collective effort has yielded some positive outcomes, as a few ponds were revived and the groundwater table has gone up in these areas. “Chennai is bestowed with hundreds of ponds that play a key role…

Delhi's bid to end manual scavenging In a move that will help sanitation workers clean manholes without having to enter them, 200 sewer cleaning machines have been introduced on March 1st. The technology was developed by the Delhi Jal Board and launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The machines have been provided to skilled manual scavengers and family members of those who died engaged in sewer cleaning. The government will help beneficiaries secure loans to buy the machines, making them sanitation entrepreneurs. The machines have been equipped to perform hydraulic, jetting, grabbing and roding works. The work which was previously…

Krishna water to stop flowing to Chennai Chennai may not continue to get its water supply from Krishna water as the Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra might shut its gates early next week.  Though Chennai was supposed to receive 1 tmcft water from  February till the first week of March, the Poondi reservoir has received only 370 mcft. Chennai is unlikely to get the remaining 630 mcft. Krishna water and Cauvery water have boosted water levels in the city’s four reservoirs which had fallen to below one tmcft last month. The city is currently being supplied with 480-550 MLD on alternate days…

There was a lot of pomp about the Ridley run that was scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 17th, starting at Palavakkam beach. Save a Turtle group had mentioned on their website that the event aimed to create awareness about the endangered Olive ridley turtle population that come to nest along the Coromandel coast and educate local communities about the ways to protect the hatchlings. Citizens started registering for the event online, sand sculptors had given dates and things seemed to be set for the run. However, two days prior to the event, the organisers called off the run.  Locals…

Translated by Sandhya Raju தற்போது நிலவி வரும் தண்ணீர் பிரச்சனைக்கும் ஏரிகள் சுரண்டப்பட்டதிற்கும் சம்மந்தம் இல்லாமல் இல்லை. நிலத்தடி நீரின் அளவை உயர்த்த உதவும் இந்த ஏரிகளை மக்களும் அதிகாரிகளும் முறையாக பராமரித்து இருந்தால், தண்ணீர் தட்டுப்பாட்டை சந்திக்கும் நிலை உருவாகியிருக்காது என்பதே நிதர்சன உண்மை. நகராட்சி எல்லைக்குள் இருக்கும் பல்லாவரம் பெரிய ஏரி மற்றும் கீழ்கட்டளை ஏரிகளின் நிலை என்ன என்று பார்ப்போம். நட்டேரி, அன்னேரி, ஜதேரி என இங்கிருக்கும் பல ஏரிகள் குடியிருப்பு பகுதியாக மாறிய நிலையில், பல்லாவரம் பெரிய ஏரி, கீழ்கட்டளை ஏரி போன்ற சில ஏரிகள் மட்டுமே இன்று இருக்கின்றன. இந்த ஏரிகளும் பரிதாபகரமான அழிவு நிலையில் தான் உள்ளன. வணிக ரீதியாக முன்னேறி இருக்கும் பகுதியில் ஐந்து கிலோமீட்டர் தொலைவில் இருக்கும் இந்த இரண்டு ஏரிகளும் சந்திக்கும் சவால்கள் ஒன்று தான்: குறைந்து போன நிலத்தடி நீர் மற்றும் கழிவு நீர் குப்பைகளால்…

Are incinerators and waste to energy plants the solution to the city's mounting landfills? How are tenders for solid waste management issued by the Corporation? Can informal waste workers be integrated into the waste ecosystem? These were some of the pressing concerns at the centre of deliberations at a public meeting for solid waste management and the way forward, organised by city-based think tank Citizen, consumer and civic Action Group (CAG). Harsh realities on ground Speakers at the meeting highlighted the invisible ground realities of waste management that the general public are oblivious to. M Radhakrishnan of social service organization…

"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…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) on January 10, 2019 with the stated aim of reducing air pollution and bringing down harmful PM2.5 and PM10 levels by 20 to 30 percent from 2017 levels by the year 2024. The NCAP has provisions for the formulation of city-specific action plans to combat air pollution. The programme focuses on 102 non-attainment cities whose ambient air quality was found to be in violation of the national standards during the monitoring between 2011…

Kashmiris attacked in the aftermath of Pulwama Kashmiris across the country came under attack by extremists in the aftermath of the terror attack in Pulwama on February 14 that left 40 CRPF personnel dead. Since the attack, Kashmiri students and traders in various parts of the country have been harassed and many forced to flee fearing for their safety. A trader was attacked by a mob in Kolkata and forced to chant ‘Vande Mataram’ before being rescued by the police. Kashmiri students in Dehradun were attacked by their peers who demanded their removal from their respective educational institutions. Shopkeepers in…

Another opportunity to enrol in voters' list If you have not registered your name in the voters' list yet, here is another chance to enrol. The Election Commission of India is organising a special two day camp today and tomorrow (Feb 23rd and 24th) to enable eligible citizens to add their names to the voters list. The camp will be open from 10 am to 5 pm at all polling stations. Source: The Hindu Railways says no to plastics  Indian Railways has identified 36 stations across the country including Chennai Central where plastics will be banned and CCTV surveillance will…