Civic

For several years now, I've had one theme around which I felt we could push for change - "rather than try to solve problems, we should focus on increasing the number of problem solving people". In different spheres, that is now happening in the city, and that gives me hope. A few examples ... The BCLIP initiative of B.PAC trains 100 people a year in understanding local governance, so that they can be better prepared to contest BBMP elections. In a 5-year term that is 500 graduates, with more than half of them also doing projects in their wards after…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship There are some things in every house, which were used in the past, but not so useful anymore, but stay on the shelf collecting dust, because people think it might be useful in future. What if those products are rented for a fixed period? What if you could donate all that material to a store that makes products out of waste? Changing consumer habits have led to generation of more waste. Today recycling has evolved from being a trend to a necessity. This is also a business opportunity. There are…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities M Karthik, Chennai-based software engineer was mighty pleased when he purchased his 350cc Royal Enfield Classic from a showroom in Anna Nagar. But his excitement was considerably muted when he found out that his make of vehicle was among the highest polluting two-wheelers available. Deeply environmentally conscious, Karthik says, “Had I known that my vehicle emits such a lot of greenhouse gases, I would have changed my decision.” But how would he know? Is there really a way for vehicle owners to gauge the emissions from the…

 போக்குவரத்து காவல் துறை Vs குடிமக்கள் : பொறுப்பு மற்றும் உரிமை சமீபத்தில் போக்குவரத்து காவல் அதிகாரி லஞ்சம் கேட்டு ஒரு இளைஞரை அடித்த சம்பவம் சமூக வலைத்தளத்தில் பரவலாக பகிரப்பட்டு அதன் தொடர்ச்சியாக காவல்துறை ஆணையர் பாதிக்கப்பட்டவரை சந்தித்து ஆறுதல் கூறியது அனைவரும் அறிந்ததே.   போக்குவரத்து அதிகாரிகளுக்கும் ஓட்டுனர்களுக்கும் நடக்கும் இது போல சம்பவங்கள் புதிதல்ல. இதற்கு முன் வலை பதிவில் உலா வந்த வீடியோ ஒன்று, தலைகவசம் அணியாததற்காக காவல் துறை ஒன்று நபரை அடித்து உதைத்த விதத்தை சுட்டி காட்டியது. இது போன்ற தருணத்தை எவ்வாறு எதிர்கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்பதையும், நம் உரிமை மற்றும் பொறுப்பு ஆகியவற்றை அறிந்து கொள்வதன் மூலம் மேலும் இந்த நிகழ்வுகளை இனியும் நடக்காமல் தடுக்க முடியும். என்ன செய்ய வேண்டும்: சரியான அதிகாரியால் தான் நீங்கள் நிறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளீர்களா என்பதை முதலில் அறிந்து கொள்ளுங்கள். அதிகாரிகள் சீருடையில் இருப்பதோடு அவர்களின் பெயர்…

Urban floods: Will urban affairs ministry take charge? Given the spate of flooding incidents in Indian cities and towns in the recent past, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is reportedly planning to involve the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) to spell out ways in which the ministry can act to prevent and mitigate the impacts of urban floods. In 2010 an expert panel of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had issued guidelines on management of urban flooding, and had recommended the establishment of an urban flooding unit under the ministry of urban affairs, headed by…

37 Chennai areas listed as highly vulnerable to north east monsoon With the onset of the north east monsoon expected soon, the Tamil Nadu Government has identified 321 areas across 14 districts of the State as 'highly vulnerable', out of which 37 are in Chennai. Water stagnation in these areas are expected to be above 5 feet. Other districts with a concentration of highly vulnerable areas are Kancheepuram (84), the Nilgiris (68), Cuddalore (37), Thiruvallur (29), Kanyakumari (22) and Nagapattinam (21). According to the report cited above, there are 3,055 vulnerable locations in all in the 14 districts, out of which 306…

How and why. Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials seem to be deliberately ignoring these two important questions, while executing the infrastructure projects. The ill-planned beautification work at Besant Nagar only bears that out. Besant Nagar (or Elliots) beach, with its fragile sandy coastal ecosystem, stares at destruction, thanks to all the work being carried out in the name of modernisation. Having received funds from the Tourism Ministry under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the civic body is all set to develop the beach as a mini tourist destination. The resulting slew of ongoing construction activities at Bessie appears to be disorganised and…

Submission of self declaration forms for revised property tax has been in the news for more than a month now. Despite multiple reports and clarifications by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials, there is still palpable uncertainty among citizens about the whole procedure. In an earlier article on the topic, Citizen Matters Chennai had explained the nitty gritty of self declaration and the procedure to submit these forms. Since then, the last date for submission of forms, has been revised to September 16th. As several questions continued to pour in from our readers, we met R Lalitha, IAS,  Deputy Commissioner,…

Three-month deadline for Bengaluru weddings to stop using plastic BBMP issued a notice on September 7th to marriage halls or kalyan mantapas, instructing them to stop using plastic material for functions, listing out all the alternative steps that may be taken to curb the plastic menace. The notice said that plate banks of steel, ceramic and melamine cutlery should be accumulated along with massive dishwashers to minimize wastage of water and maximise hygiene. Other recommendations include RO purifiers to supply drinking water, colour coded dustbins for segregation, avoidance of banana leaves that make segregation of wet-waste difficult, and setting up…

Registration department adopts biometrics for return of documents To ensure transparency and speedy processing, the registration department has introduced biometric processing, enabling return of documents within 2 working days from the sub-registrar office.  Earlier,it could take upto three months for a buyer to get back the documents post registration of their property. Meanwhile, the department has also introduced First In First Out (FIFO) system to  eliminate discretionary prioritisation of registration. The time slots would be alloted at the time of online registration. Source:  New Indian Express | The Times of India Awareness Campaign for Rain Water Harvesting Chennai Metrowater will…