Civic

Hemraj, a youth in his mid twenties, hails from Royapuram, in North Chennai, which is a neglected area in terms of development or infrastructure compared to other parts of the city. From street light malfunction to free flow of sewage to handling simple checks by the police, Hemraj says he had no clue how to resolve all them and whom to approach, until he started volunteering with a civic-action group, Arappor Iyakkam. Citizen movements across the city are growing and are becoming a powerful tool to resolve civic issues and what is heartening is that these citizen movements are now…

Two underground stretches of Metro Rail commence operation Commuters travelling to Chennai Central  from Annanagar can now take the Metro, as can travellers from Saidapet to DMS. Two new stretches of Chennai Metro were inaugurated by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Union Minister Hardeep Singh from Egmore railway station.  A commuter who wants to travel from Chennai Central to Chennai airport or AG-DMS to Chennai airport will have to pay ₹70. The minimum fare is Rs.10/- and the maximum fare has now been revised to Rs. 70 Meanwhile, work is said to be in full swing to complete the…

A mid-January dawn in Chennai of UNESCO ‘heritage fame’, as margazhi kolams inch boisterously onto the centre of roads, roadside temples belt out loud religious music to the neighbourhoods. It is the run up to auspicious Thai and the bounteous Pongal festival. Only, the air of peaceful holiness is marred by the overflowing garbage bins everywhere around. Stranger still is that morning walkers, senior citizens, fitness enthusiasts etc., move around effortlessly, unseeing of the muck in every periphery of their vision!Interviewing conservancy workers whose job profile is to keep the streets of Chennai clean and free of garbage and litter…

A month after DefExpo, trash all over the location. Whatever happened to Swacch Bharat? A citizen driving past Thiruvidanthai on Chennai's ECR captures the trash (plastic, thermocol) and construction debris left behind after the prestigious DefExpo 2018 was held there in April 2018. Land owned by the Nithya Perumal temple was taken over by the Defence Ministry for the event, but the villagers and temple authorities say they have no idea when the land will be returned to them. Environmentalists said the DefExpo site was a violation of coastal zone regulations. “When the Tamil Nadu Coastal Zone Management Authority gave…

Untidy wards, unsanitary washrooms and grimy surroundings — these may fit the common perception of government hospitals, but not the cancer block in Royapettah Government Hospital (GH). The 90,000 sq ft cancer block does not conform to the stereotypical image of any other government hospital in the city,  thanks to one man's obsession with hygiene. Meet Sekar Viswanathan, the founder of Viswajayam Foundation. Along with his team, Viswanathan has strived hard to bring about a fundamental change in the cancer block of Royapettah Government Hospital (GH). A business development manager by profession, the 53-year-old Viswanathan has been serving the needy…

Corporation begins work on T Nagar Pedestrian plaza Bhoomi pooja was performed near the Thyagaraya Road – Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Salai junction, to begin work on the T Nagar pedestrian plaza as part of the Smart City project. The project, estimated at ₹33.80 crore will include an exclusive pedestrian pathway for senior citizens, children and differently-abled people. Other facilities include children’s play area, upgraded toilet facilities, resting places for  shoppers and pedestrians, decorative lamps, fountains and crossing area. Speaking to News Today, a senior official of Chennai Corporation said, “as part of Smart City project, work is already under progress at various…

Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) today released a list of 28 endorsed candidates from 18 Assembly constituencies for upcoming assembly elections, 2018. "A country like ours has a diverse polity and you need multiple skillsets to tackle the issues that confront us today. It was a tough call and after diligent deliberations the committee concluded that each of these candidates had something to offer the voters, and hence, should be supported in their endeavors to represent Bengaluru" - Kiran Mazumdar Shaw  Since 2013 B.PAC has been endorsing candidates for all three general elections namely Assembly Elections in 2013, Lok Sabha Elections…

Namma Chennai App to the rescue of residents, yet a long way to go Since the launch of the Namma Chennai App in January, Greater Chennai Corporation is witnessing a steady flow of complaints. As many as 3000 complaints have been received so far and officials say they act on the complaints swiftly. Poor street lighting, Pavement encroachments, abandoned cars  are some of the issues that are getting the attention of the officials.  As on May 4, the app had seen 8000  downloads on Google Play store, and it has also been introduced in the iOS store. Source : Times…

Indian cities’ ongoing dilemma: To breathe or not to breathe? With 14 of the 15 most polluted cities in the world in terms of PM 2.5 concentrations, as recorded in the recently-released WHO global air pollution database, India continues to grapple with the huge challenge of cleaning up the air in its cities. With a PM 2.5 of 173 micrograms per cubic metre, Kanpur holds the unenviable top position in the list, followed by Faridabad, Varanasi and Gaya. The Indian capital stood at sixth position. The study considered both PM2.5 and PM10 pollution in the cities over the period 2010-2016.…

Never before in the history of Bengaluru (or even other Indian cities), have we heard of non-partisan groups of citizens reaching out to all their candidates, preparing a bunch of hard questions, and interviewing each candidate on video, and working to share the video with all voters in their constituency so each one of them can make the most informed choice. Mahadevapura’s Million Voter Rising (MVR) team has been working from late 2016 to enroll voters in their constituency. They went to court filing a PIL when they found irregularities in the enrollment process and protested when majority (more than…