Civic

Phase 1 of Chennai Metro to be fully functional this weekend The entire stretch of 45 km comprising Phase 1 of Chennai Metro will become fully functional starting this Sunday, February 10th. Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the state will inaugurate the final leg of Phase 1 connecting AG-DMS to Washermanpet.  The final 10-km stretch from AG-DMS to Washermanpet will be entirely underground and have stations at Washermanpet, Mannady, Madras High Court, Chennai Central, Government Estate, LIC, Thousand Lights and AG-DMS. The construction of Chennai Metro Rail’s phase I project built at a cost of ₹14,600 crore has been…

With increasingly erratic monsoons, water-sharing disputes with other states and steady decline in ground water levels, Chennai's problems over water scarcity seem unrelenting. Not surprisingly, therefore, its two desalination plants in Nemmeli and Minjur hold great significance as far as meeting the city's water needs is concerned. But are these solutions really optimal and ideal, or is there more beneath the surface?   The operation of the Nemmeli desalination plant, located around 40 km from the heart of the city, began in 2013 after the technology was successfully piloted for the first time through the setting up of the Minjur plant…

Take a quick look around you and it should not be too difficult to identify some of the most pressing issues in your immediate surroundings. Waste management, air pollution, water scarcity, plastic pollution: these and other issues pose a direct threat to the quality of life as we know it in the city today. But what is your solution to these problems? How would 'you' propose to address these civic issues? While some may flounder a bit when confronted with this question, the same cannot be said of the bright young minds participating in the Sarvalokaa Hackathon 2019, where they came…

Namma Bengaluru Awards (NBA) Trust launched the 10th edition ‘Namma Bengaluru Awards 2019’ (NBA) in Bengaluru last week. NBA is a pursuit for Unsung heroes, who have striven to make Bengaluru a better city, braving all odds. These awards are the city’s way of saying ‘Thank You’ to its Real Heroes, who work relentlessly towards making Bengaluru a better place to live in. Owing to the growing popularity of NBA, we have decided to create the Namma Bengaluru Awards trust, that will continue to recognize, honour and celebrate the efforts of the unsung heroes nominated by Bengalureans for their unparalleled…

Fuel stickers for Delhi vehicles The Supreme Court-appointed Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority has mandated fuel stickers for all vehicles plying in the national capital. The order covers all four-wheelers — old and new; private and commercial; cars, trucks and buses. The vehicles must have stickers that indicate what type of fuel is used by them. All vehicles must comply with the order by using stickers before October 2019. Petrol and CNG vehicles are indicated by light-blue stickers on their windscreens, diesel vehicles must use orange stickers, and electric and hybrid vehicles must use green stickers. 76000 vehicles currently…

88 tonnes of banned plastic seized in January It has been one month since the implementation of plastic ban in the state and the city has had mixed response from various quarters. Chennai corporation has seized 88 tonnes of banned plastic in the city during the last 31 days. According to the data compiled by the civic body, the largest quantity of banned plastics has been seized from outlets in Kodambakkam zone, while the lowest were in Madhavaram zone. It has also been reported that many retailers have gone back to use of banned items, especially bags and packaging material.…

Finally, it looks like the Chennai Metro is ready to roll out services across its full length of 45.1 km in Phase I, nine years after it was approved by the Centre. As one of the biggest urban infrastructure projects of Chennai, costing upwards of $2.5 billion, it upgrades the city’s profile globally, although it is nowhere near the emerging international paradigm of Mobility as a Service (MaaS). In fact, it is a pretty scattered set of options in Tamil Nadu’s capital, with a mix of regulated systems for low quality government-run buses, suburban trains operated by the Central government, the Metro…

In the last four years, promises to build hostels exclusively for north-eastern students across cities in the north and south have drawn mixed reactions. Some hail the move as an assurance of "safety," while critics slam it as "divisive". Meanwhile, amid divergent reactions, the first hostel built for female students from the north-eastern states, under the scheme mooted by the NDA government at the centre, is said to have been completed, and will be inaugurated in Bengaluru's Jnana Bharathi campus "soon." This was disclosed in a recent announcement by Dr Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER). The hostel,…

About 5000 students from 115 private and government schools across the city will either visit traffic police stations or invite the traffic police to their schools through February, to celebrate and express gratitude towards them. CMCA’s 14th Traffic Police Day, the flag-off event of a month-long celebration of the city’s traffic police by children, was held at the Traffic Management Centre on January 28th. P Harishekaran, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), traffic constables, and school students were present. CMCA’s Traffic Police Day is designed to foster positive interactions between the traffic police and children. The idea is to introduce children…

Translated by Sandhya Raju "பல மாதங்களாக தனிமையில் வாடினேன். என் குடும்பத்தினரிடம் என்னால் மனம் விட்டு பேச முடியவில்லை. தற்கொலை எண்ணத்தை தூண்டக்கூடிய அளவில் கல்லூரி படிப்பு ரொம்பவே அழுத்தம் கொடுத்தது" என்கிறார் பிரபல கல்லூரியில் இறுதி ஆண்டு எஞ்சினீயரிங் பயிலும் ராம். வாழ்க்கையின் இக்கட்டான முடிவை எடுக்கும் முன், ஆன்லைனில் உதவி கிட்டுமா என்று தேடினார். "என்ன தேடுகிறேன் என்று தெரியாமல் என் பிரச்சனையை முன்வைத்து வலைதளத்தில் தேட ஆரம்பித்த பொழுது தற்கொலை தடுப்பு ஹெல்ப்லைன் நம்பர் கிடைத்தது. சும்மா முயற்சிக்கலாம் என்ற எண்ணத்தில் எந்த வித எதிர்ப்பார்ப்பும் இன்றி தொடர்பு கொண்டேன், ஆனால் அந்த முயற்சி என் வாழ்க்கையை மாற்றி அமைத்தது" என்கிறார். WHO ஆய்வின் படி இந்தியாவின் சராசரியை விட தமிழ்நாட்டில் தற்கொலை செய்வோரின் எண்ணிக்கைமூன்று மடங்கு அதிகம்.   National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) படி.2015 ஆண்டில், 14,602 தற்கொலைகள் தமிழ்நாட்டில் நடந்துள்ளன. நாட்டிலேயே…