Civic

R-Day at Chamrajnagar Idgah Maidan For the first time, Republic Day was celebrated, on January 26th, at the Chamrajnagar Idgah Maidan ground amid tight security, as North taluk assistant commissioner, revenue department, Shivanna, unfurled the national flag at 8 am. MLA BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan and Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha MP, PC Mohan, were also present, under elaborate security. Naadageethe and Raitha Geete were played, and later, students from BBMP and government schools performed cultural programmes. The West Division police deployed over 150 police personnel and installed over 50 CCTV cameras. There were celebrations at a number of places in…

A famous colloquialism in Tamil about the need for protests translates roughly to say only a baby who cries gets the milk. In my many years of civic activism in Chennai and its suburbs, I have come to realise that constant vigilance and readiness to speak up for our needs are key tenets to achieving our objectives to improve the city and quality of life in the city. While much has changed, what remains constant is the need to raise our voices collectively to demand better from the powers that be.  Protests alone will not fix issues we face in…

Air quality in Chennai worsens since 2019 The amount of particulate matter in the air of Chennai has risen in 2022 than 2019. Then, it was the second most polluted city in India, with respect to PM 2.5 levels, according to CPCB.  In terms of PM 10 levels, Chennai has ranked higher and become the third least polluted city in Chennai. In 2019, the PM10 level was 55 units and last year, the amount was 65 units.  The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) tracker report said that cities that had cleaner air in 2019 deteriorated over the years.  Experts say…

Egg prices shoot up in Mumbai due to shortage The price of eggs has gone up in the city due to a shortage in supply caused by the extended winter season, which led to a decrease in production. There is a shortage of 10 lakh chicken eggs in Mumbai daily and the cost per dozen has increased from 66 rupees to over 80 rupees. In November, the wholesale rate of 100 eggs was around Rs 475 to Rs 500, which has now touched Rs 600. The Department of Animal Husbandry in Maharashtra is developing a long-term policy that would enable…

BBMP's annual budget preponed The BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) will present its annual budget day for the next financial year on February 15th, in anticipation of the start of the model code of conduct before the Assembly elections. Last year's budget, presented on March 31st, was delayed as the budget copy was released at midnight. This year, the BBMP is in a hurry to present the budget as it wants to get the state's approval before the code of conduct sets in. Meanwhile, former mayors and corporators have demanded that the allocation made in the name of corporator and…

"Nobody wants to pay the common electricity bill this time. It is Rs. 500 per household now. Earlier, it hardly used to cross Rs. 150 per household," says G Varsha, a resident of KK Nagar. She lives in an apartment with seven units. "We are shocked at the common EB bill and are hoping that they will reduce it soon hearing public demands." Her apartment has common lights, and a water motor as part of the common electrical connection. With Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) raising the EB tariff for almost all sectors in September 2022, we…

Some make it to the news. Especially when it involves a well-known public figure like Cyrus Mistry, or a celebrity sportsperson like Rishabh Pant. Some find sharp but transient attention in public discourse, such as all those pothole-related fatalities, or incidents like the horrific one in Delhi that rocked the nation at the start of the year. Others are simply relegated to an obscure corner of the daily newspaper, while many many more are never reported at all. The truth, though, is that every single road crash is one too many. Yet through years of deliberations, legislation and piecemeal initiatives…

PM to bring in a showering of infrastructure projects Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence in Mumbai in the coming week on January 19th is expected to bring about multiple projects in the city. Among these are: seven sewage treatment plants (STP) at different locations across the city; the PM SVANidhi scheme, offering loans to street vendors; bhoomipujan of concrete roads worth Rs 6,000 crore; and the laying of foundation stones for the reconstruction of two civic hospitals. Phase 2 of the metro lines 2A, and 7 may also be on the cards, as well as Navi Mumbai's metro stretch between…

Special buses to be operated from Chennai for Pongal As a large number of people are expected to travel from Chennai to various districts in view of the Pongal holidays, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) and State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) are operating special buses between January 12 and 14 and on January 18 and 19 from six bus termini namely Madhavaram New Bus stand, K.K. Nagar MTC Bus Terminus, Tambaram MEPZ Anna Bus Stand, Tambaram Railway station Bus Stand, Poonamallee Bus stand and Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR Bus Terminus (CMBT Koyambedu bus stand). Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation…

'Rapid road' develops cracks The BBMP’s (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) ‘rapid road’ experiment in Old Madras Road near Indiranagar, inaugurated by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai last month, has already developed cracks in several places. Civic authorities had claimed that the 375-metre stretch of Old Madras Road in Indiranagar, built using new technology, would last for 40 years. The government plans to take up white-topping using the old method. Bommai agreed to the third phase of the project comprising 89 roads, at Rs 1,429 crore, to fit the 2022-23 scheduled rates (SR). The IISc (Indian Institute of Science) has agreed to…