Civic

Drastic cut in drinking water supply With the major reservoirs that are a source of drinking water to the city going dry, Chennai Metrowater has already cut supply of drinking water by half. The city gets 850 mld a day which is cut to 450 mld to 480 mld per day. The main source of water now are veeranam water supply project, desalination plants at Nemili & Minjur, agricultural wells and metrowater owned wells. The four lakes that supply water to the city have a storage level that is just 10% of their capacity. Meanwhile, Metrowater is also planning to set…

https://twitter.com/Dr_RVS/status/1074696228447899650 This tweet from a resident asking the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) if they have planned to kill residents near the Karnataka Development Compost Corporation (KCDC), sums up the despair of the residents over the years who have been residing in the area. A group of 23 petitioners including the Kudlu, Hosapalya, HSR Layout, SomasundaraPalya, Parangipalya( KHHSP) Residents Welfare Association (RWA), have filed a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court in November 2018 demanding the closure of KCDC citing it to be a major source of pollution. The residents have run out of patience with the government. "Filing…

“I felt very lost and alone for many months. I was not able to communicate my feelings to my family. I felt very pressurised to finish my course requirements in college, and it overwhelmed me into thinking about suicide”, says Ram*, a final year engineering student at a reputed college in Chennai. Before Ram could take the drastic step, he turned to online resources hoping for help. “I don't know what I was looking for. I Googled how I felt, and found the contact number of a suicide prevention helpline. I figured I would just make that call. I did…

''This year has been a welcome sight for birdwatchers as there has been an increase in the number of migratory birds in the city. The numbers seem to have increased in spite of the poor monsoons the city saw this year,'' says environmentalist E Seshan. Although the water levels in Pallikaranai and Vedanthangal run low following a scant northeast monsoon, these winged friends have made several other water bodies in the city their home. A retired chief photographer of the Geological Survey of India, E Seshan, has been studying the pattern and habits of migratory birds in Chennai for the…

Continuous trolling, sarcastic celebrations, and even a mock ‘inauguration by the Prime Minister’ -- there is no end to the many creative ways in which Mangaluru residents have been venting their frustration over the incompletion of this 900-metre flyover in their city that lies unfinished for close to a decade now. The Pumpwell flyover that lies at the intersection of NH66 AND NH55 was ideated to absorb the excess load of the intercity and highway traffic, but for nearly 10 years since the issue of the Letter of Approval (LOA) for the project, it has only added to traffic woes…

Bengalureans will get a chance to showcase their love for the city this Valentines Day. The Bengaluru Civic Fest organised by IChangeMyCity (an initiative of Janaagraha) along with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be held on the 14th of February at Freedom Park from 10 am to 8 pm. The festival will be a platform where various civil society organisations and groups discuss their work, government agencies communicate their work with citizens and school children will discuss their participation with local governments. The festival will see the presence of BBMP mayor and Corporators. Sapna Kareem, coordinator, Civic Participation, Janaagraha,…

Translated by Sandhya Raju மரத்திலான சமையல் உபகரணங்கள், பேப்பர் மற்றும் துணியிலான பைகள், ஸ்டீல் பாத்திரங்கள் ஆகியவை பிளாஸ்டிக்கு மாற்றாக வலம் வரத் தொடங்கிவிட்டன. வணிகர்கள், உணவு விடுதிகள், மக்கள் என சென்னையில் எந்த மூலையில் பார்த்தாலும் அனைத்து தரப்பினரும் படிப்படியாக சுற்றுச்சூழலுக்கு உகந்த பொருட்களுக்கு மாறத் தொடங்கிவிட்டனர். வணிகர்களை பொருத்த வரை, மாற்றத்தை ஏற்றுக் கொள்ள பல்வேறு கலவையான ஒரு வித குழப்பமான சூழலே நிலவுகிறது. அடையாறு ஆனந்த பவன், ஃபசோஸ், ப்லாக் பாக்ஸ் போன்ற பிரபலமான நிறுவனங்கள் இந்த தடையை ஏற்று உடனடியாக துணி, காகித பை, அட்டை டப்பா, மர கரண்டி என மாறினாலும் சில நிறுவனங்கள் மாற்றத்திற்கு இன்னும் முழுதாக தயாராகவில்லை என்பது தான் நிதர்சனம். மாற்றம் இந்த தடை சிறு மற்றும் நடுத்தர நிறுவனங்களில் பணி புரிபவர்களுக்கு ஆபத்தாக முடியவில்லை. ஆனால் உற்பத்தி நிறுவனங்கள் அதிலும் காகித உற்பத்தி நிறுவனங்கள் நிறையவே வரத்…

The third part of this series on Steel flyover took us to the office of Naresh Narasimhan who was one of the principal architects of the Steel Flyover Beda movement which saw people from the city form a human chain from Chalukya Circle to Mehkri Circle on October 16 in 2016. A noted architect from the city, Narasimhan was quick to point out to me as we set up the camera: “I am not against flyovers, but against long ones which exceed a kilometre.” As the camera rolled, he got down to the nuts and bolts of this argument. “We…

Our first conversation with Vijayan Menon from Citizen Action Forum about the proposed steel flyover had raised a very valid point about the context of the project. Why was it only about getting to the airport? What about the people who live in the vicinity of the major choke points - Hebbal, Mekhri Circle etc? What did they want? So we sat down with the President of Hebbal Sarovar Layout Resident Welfare Association, Vijay Kumar Saya to find out about the local sentiment. A resident of North Bengaluru, the elderly man has lived and worked in the area for the…

Badminton seems to be attracting a fair bit of attention in Chennai these days. While the Chennai Smashers have gained popularity in the Premier Badminton League, players like S Sankar Muthusamy are putting Tamil Nadu's name upfront in the world badminton arena. Last October, Sankar Muthusamy became the first player from Tamil Nadu to bag a bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Junior Championship, in the Boys Singles U-15 category. “He is also the first player from the state to have won the national singles. Sankar's achievements have been an inspiration for many to pursue the sport. More people have…