Civic

Chennai awarded as fastest mover in Swachh rankings Chennai has been lauded for the special efforts it has taken in the previous year to become one of the cleanest cities in the country. The city has also been awarded for fastest growth in 2019 among cities with a population of more than 10 lakh. Chennai has climbed 39 spots to secure 61st spot in the Swachh Survekshan rankings released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. This spike in rankings is primarily due to the improvements in source segregation and redressal of complaints registered on the Swachhata App. The…

Iblur lake is almost ready! Those of you who travel by the lake may have noticed that the lake bed has been cleaned and levelled, the bund has been built, and bund walls pitched with stone. Water inlets and outlets have been constructed, and the newly built storm water drains along Outer Ring Road will bring rainwater runoff into the lake. Once Hoskote Gravel is laid on the bund, the walking/jogging path would be complete. Joggers and walkers have already started using the lake. Birds also make occasional stopovers. We, local residents who had formed the Iblur Lake Forum, are…

"Celebrating four years of changemaking"- this is what my good friends at Namma Ooru Foundation (NOF) Called the event. So naturally I expected to hear stories of the journey, milestones, troubles encountered along, successes hard earned, etc. And of course I knew that I would be meeting many of Chennai's environment warriors. I was looking forward to it. It was all that, and more. I met several of the remarkable individuals that we keep reaching out to, both for our writings at Citizen Matters, and in our personal capacity, for guidance in our efforts to refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle.…

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…

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…