Civic

Contributors of greenhouse gas in Chennai identified Emissions from vehicles and railways have been found to contribute 16% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Chennai. The findings were tabled as part of a report on the Chennai Climate Action Plan (CCAP) drafted by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). The report prepared by Deloitte has found that 66.4% of all motorised transport trips in the city are driven by fossil-fuel-based vehicles. The share of non-motorised transport in Chennai stands at 28%. To reduce emissions, the report suggests incentivising a switch to e-vehicles. The creation of infrastructure for charging and amendments to…

New Lower Parel bridge problem for Mumbai's dabbawalas The newly constructed bridge outside Lower Parel station has disrupted the daily routine of Mumbai's dabbawalas. Subhash Talekar, the President of the Mumbai Dabbawala Association (MDA), stated that the old bridge was more convenient as it had a footpath. However, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolished it and failed to provide a similar facility for the new bridge. The old bridge was spacious and had stairs, as well as wide footpaths, making it feasible for dabbawalas to exchange dabbas for areas such as Worli, Kalachowki, Byculla, and Mazgaon. To address their concerns,…

More candidates with criminal cases than in 2018 There are more candidates with declared criminal cases in all three parties after 2018. It has risen from 83 to 96 in the BJP, 59 to 122 among the Congress candidates, and 41 to 70 in the JD(S), according to the ‘Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other Details of Candidates’ report, released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).   Eight candidates have declared murder-related cases (IPC Section 302), 35 candidates have attempts to murder cases (Section 307), and 49 candidates have declared cases of crime against…

A few weeks ago, Kottur Gardens resident Badrinath MP's 91-year-old father went for a walk in the area. During the walk, he was almost bitten by a street dog but managed to escape unharmed. Badrinath was himself chased by street dogs a few days later. Several such instances of dogs chasing two-wheelers or going after pedestrians have left many residents wary of street dog management policies in Chennai. Despite the existence of an Animal Birth Control (ABC) Programme in Chennai, the street dog management practices on the ground leave much to be desired. While the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) puts…

GCC's bus shelter renovation project faces hurdles The Greater Chennai Corporation's (GCC) plan to renovate bus shelters across has been unable to take off due to a lack of bids. The civic body's plan to spruce up bus 844 bus shelters across Chennai was approved by the council in March. The aim was to ensure uniformity in the renovation and quality of the shelters through the adoption of a public-private partnership model. The total number of bus shelters in the city were divided into 12 corridors, with each corridor comprising 65 bus shelters. The tenders were called for renovation soon…

Mumbai's summer heat: Traffic officials aged 55 and above asked to stay indoors in afternoon Mumbai is currently facing higher temperatures than previous summers, and as a precautionary measure, traffic police officers who are 55 years old and above have been advised to avoid being outside between 12 pm and 5 pm to prevent heatstroke. A circular was issued on April 26th to all 50 traffic chowkis in the city to convey the same. Senior officers are responsible for ensuring that on duty traffic police officials have access to clean drinking water and wear caps during the afternoon hours. On…

Over 16 lakh added to voters' list Almost 16,04,285 voters, including about two lakh young electors, have been newly added to the voters’ list after the publication of the final electoral rolls on January 5th  and January 15th in Karnataka. Hence, there are 5.31 crore electors in the 224 Assembly constituencies, said Manoj Kumar Meena, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Karnataka. People now cannot add, delete or update the rolls. After announcement of polls, enrolment activities were taken up till April 20th and all eligible applications have been updated in the electoral roll 2023. Just before the elections, a voter…

One of the important pillars of democracy is civic participation in the processes of governance. Participation by citizens in their local governance can vary from something as simple as turning up to vote in elections - general, assembly and local body-to registering their grievances with the local bodies and participating in ward committee meetings. In the “Bengaluru constituencies datajam”, conducted on 1st April, at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, we looked at publicly available data to evaluate the 28 assembly constituencies in Bengaluru Urban district on their civic participation. Problem statement Rank Bengaluru’s constituencies in terms of civic…

Take a walk through any street in Chennai and you will find at least one wall filled with various posters announcing a new movie in the theatres, the obituary of a senior citizen in the locality and news of a political party meeting. What do posters say about life in the city? When do they cross the line from being informative to being a nuisance to the public? Posters as a source of knowledge Many in the city see posters as an eyesore. But that is not all that defines what posters add to the landscape of the city. "The…

Chennai Corporation to audit old buildings in Parry's Corner The Greater Chennai Corporation is to audit the stability of the buildings in Parry's Corner after a 70-year-old building in the area collapsed recently. A building on Armenian Street, which was under renovation, collapsed on April 19. The incident left four injured. As many as 280 personnel were deployed in the rescue operation and more than 30 trucks were used to clear the debris. Officials of the civic body stated that prior permission had not been accorded for carrying out the renovation of the building. Source: DT Next Expert Appraisal Committee…