Civic

Corporation evicts pavement dwellers in Egmore The Greater Chennai Corporation evicted close to 50 families who had been residing on the pavement close to Egmore Railways station. The families allege that they had been given no notice of the move and that their belongings had been bundled and taken away. The evicted families were residents of Egmore for close to five decades. After the eviction they are currently housed in a Corporation shelter near Pattalam with the promise of permanent housing in 10 days. The evicted families returned to the site of their shanties the following day and staged a…

Mumbai registers zero COVID-19 deaths for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic After 18 months and 3 weeks, Mumbai recorded no COVID-19 deaths on a single day on October 17th. "Mumbai recorded zero Covid deaths after March 26, 2020. This is great news for all of us in Mumbai. I salute Team MCGM (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai) for their spectacular performance," I S Chahal, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner told news agency ANI. Even before the second wave of the pandemic hit the country, Mumbai had already reported more than 25% of the country’s total number…

BBMP schools to reopen primary sections BBMP schools will resume classes for grades I to V from Monday, October 25. No online classes were held for these students in the past one-and-half years; teachers only interacted with the students who accompanied their parents to collect rations from school, said an education department official. The teachers and non-teaching staff have been fully vaccinated, the official added. The 16 civic-run primary schools will be sanitised over the weekend. The strength of students in classes I to V will be ascertained once physical classes resume. Source: The Hindu Read more: The reality of…

For the residents of Delhi's many slums and jhuggi-jhopri clusters, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's recent statement that the government is working on a drainage master plan must have sounded a cruel joke. Especially at a time when Delhi had just had its wettest September since 1944. Till September 16th this year, Delhi witnessed 1159.4 mm of rainfall, the highest since 1964 and the third-highest ever, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data. Inevitably, the worst sufferers of this deluge were the 18.5% of the city’s population (estimated at 31,181,376 in the latest revision of the UN World Urbanization Prospects) living…

Fuel prices hiked again, petrol costs Rs 110 in Pune, CNG Rs 62 Petrol prices rose again after a break of two days, with a litre of diesel now at Rs 99.36 and petrol at Rs 110.25. CNG price, thought to be stable, too were hiked to Rs 62.10 in Pune on October 14, the second hike this month. The government justified the regular hikes in fuel prices by saying it needed to raise revenue to fund the free COVID-19 vaccination programme. The continuous hike in fuel prices is affecting transportation costs. Transport associations have appealed to the central government…

Houses, airport flooded The overnight rain of 18 cm between Monday night and Tuesday morning is the highest ever that the Met observatory at KIA (Kempegowda International Airport) recorded since it was set up in 2011. The roads leading to KIA were waterlogged due to the heavy rains on Monday night. Hence cabs and private vehicles were stranded, forcing some to depend on alternative modes of transport, even a tractor. BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Limited) sources said that 20 departing flights between 5.30 pm and 11.59 pm were delayed due to weather conditions. Heavy rains also flooded scores of houses…

Marina beach safety improved Following a spate of drowning deaths along the Marina beach, safety measures have been beefed up at the Marina beach. There have been 13 deaths in the past 50 days, prompting action by the authorities to take action to ensure the safety of the general public. The most recent incident involves the disappearance of two undergraduate students, feared to have been drowned in the rough seas. In addition to lifeguards and monitoring outposts with all terrain vehicles, police teams will also carry out additional patrolling along the beach. Dedicated Whatsapp numbers have also been published for…

Mumbai sees highest COVID-19 cases since July 26 Cases of COVID-19 have gradually increased in Mumbai since the festive season began with Ganesh Chaturthi. On Thursday, the number hit 5,317, the highest in the city since July 26. Officials from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s health department said they are anticipating a spike post-Dussehra as more people step out. However, officials said the rise in cases is not a cause for concern. They say the situation is under control since most of Mumbai’s population has taken at least one dose of the and nearly half have taken both doses. Source: The…

The residents of Srinivasa Nagar and Ram Nagar of Madipakkam area under the Greater Chennai Corporation have been denied basic civic amenities for several years. They have been living with the dangers associated with bad roads, open kutcha drains, absence of comprehensive storm water drain network covering all the streets, improper sewer systems and absence of quality water supply for nearly a decade now.   The common problems faced by close to 700 houses in the area have interconnected roots, mostly arising from the apathy and inefficiency of various civic agencies like GCC, CMWSSB, TNEB etc. that work in silos without…

Translated by Sandhya Raju செப்டம்பர் 12, 2021 அன்று பல்லாவரம்-துரைப்பாக்கம் சாலையில் அங்கீகாரமற்ற பதாகை சாய்ந்ததில் அவ்வழியாக தனது வாகனத்தில் சென்ற 23 வயது ஆர் சுபஸ்ரீ பலியாகி இரண்டாண்டுகள் கடந்து விட்டன. சென்னை உயர்நீதிமன்றம் அப்போதைய அதிமுக ஆட்சியை கடுமையாக சாடியது. இரண்டு ஆண்டுகள் பிறகு, ஓஎம்ஆர், ஜிஎஸ்டி, தாம்பரம், வேளாச்சேரி என பல பகுதிகளில் மீண்டும் விளம்பர பதாகைகள் சாலை நடுவிலும், நடை பாதைகளிலும் முளைத்திருப்பதை காண முடிகிறது. "இன்னும் எத்தனை லிட்டர் இரத்தத்தை சாலைகள் பார்க்க வேண்டும் என விரும்புகிறீர்கள்?" என கடுமையான கேள்வியை உயர்நீதி மன்றம் அப்போது எழுப்பியது. அங்கீகாரமற்ற பதாகைகள், பானர்களை நீக்க நடவடிக்கை எடுக்குமாறு பல முறை கூறியுள்ளது எங்களுக்கு அலுத்து விட்டது எனவும் குறிப்பிட்டிருந்தது. வாகன ஓட்டிகள், பாதசாரிகளுக்கு இடையூறு ஏற்படுத்தும் வகையில் அரசியல் கட்சிகள் பதாகைகள் வைக்கக்கூடாது என டிசம்பர் 2018 அன்று ஏற்கனவே அறிவுறுத்தியிருந்தது. நகராட்சியும், காவல்…