Governance

After much discussions and deliberation, the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank on September 30th formally approved a $150-million programme to assist the Tamil Nadu government in its vision of transforming Chennai into a world-class city. To quote the official statement of the Bank itself, the objective of this Chennai City Partnership is to make the capital a city that is “more green, livable, competitive, and resilient to climate change and other shocks.” So what is the programme all about and why has the international financial institution decided to partner with Tamil Nadu’s capital? For starters, this is…

As part of its mission towards a cleaner and greener Chennai, the newly elected administration has announced its plan to revive the Singara Chennai project of the late nineties. The plan is supported by a budget of Rs 500 crores, out of which the Corporation has been allocated Rs 300 crores and Metro Water, Rs 200 crores. In an official quote to the Times of India, the goals of the campaign have been described thus: “The funds will predominantly be used for beautifying Chennai under heads that include solid waste management, artwork, culture, improving greenery, setting up new infrastructure such…

September 12th 2021 marked the second death anniversary of R Subhashree. The 23-year-old techie died after an illegal hoarding erected on the road’s divider fell on her while she was riding her two wheeler on the Pallavaram -Thoraipakkam road in Chennai. Two years later, despite the Madras High Court (HC) coming down heavily on the then All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government for failing to stop the menace of illegal hoardings in Chennai, places in the city such as OMR, GST road, Tambaram and Velachery are witnessing the return of advertisement hoardings on medians and foot overbridges. Following…

On September 12th, the Tamil Nadu government passed a government order formalising the formation of the Tambaram Corporation, upgrading the municipalities of Pallavaram,Sembakkam, Pammal, and Anakaputhur, and neighbouring town panchayats like Madambakkam,Thiruneermalai, Perungalathur, Chitlapakkam and Peerkankaranai. Municipalities and Town Panchayats have lesser autonomy as they work with the district administrations for carrying out various civic works while Corporations have greater freedom in decision making. The ability to raise funds through borrowings and by working with funding agencies, including international agencies, are an advantage enjoyed by Corporations. The creation of the Tambaram Corporation has, however, evoked mixed reactions from residents of…

The beginning of 2021 brought Perambur residents new hope as the work on the construction of a concrete median on Perambur High Road - North Side was taken up. The median had existed until 2015 and had been inexplicably removed. Since then locals have been engaged in efforts to reinstall the crucial median to improve road safety and avoid accidents. Residents of the area were very hopeful that the work would be completed before the April Assembly elections earlier this year. The work was almost nearing completion when it was suddenly stalled.  To local residents, it was clear that this…

How often do we concern ourselves with electricity issues? Well, a social media listening exercise reveals that there is a buzz around electricity topics in Chennai when consumers are faced with either interruptions in power supply or unusually high electricity bill.  In the last one month, citizens in Chennai took to social media about 1,634 times to write about their concerns around power cuts and an inflated electricity bill from the TNEB! Nearly 70% of the users posted about how their EB bills shocked them. 63.2K users shared and interacted with posts about inflated electricity bills.  Source: Author’s analysis via…

Urban governance is a complex phenomenon. Apart from the local municipal body, a host of governmental organisations, parastatal bodies and state departments are entrusted with providing public services in Chennai. Their functions define the various aspects of life in the city. From water to power to housing, do you know who is accountable for the governance and delivery of basic services and amenities in Namma Chennai? This explainer talks of the various agencies involved in administration and public service delivery in Chennai. Municipal administration: The Greater Chennai Corporation Let’s start with the civic body. The Greater Chennai Corporation, housed in…

Mumbaikars have multiple avenues for lodging complaints to civic authorities. The toll-free number 1916, MCGM website, MyBMC 24*7 mobile application and even written complaints form the centralised complaint registration system (CCRS).  Through a SAP (a data management software for enterprise and resource planning) interface, the complaint gets routed to an officer in charge of the particular department in the complainant's ward. The complaint can then be tracked, escalated and given feedback on.  However, this process has faced several glitches in the recent past. So much so that residents have begun using social media instead to draw the attention of the…

The cash strapped Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has been on a quest to improve its system, which will enable it to widen its property tax net. BBMP was one of the first municipal corporations in the country to embrace technology and implement an online Self Assessment Tax system. Whilst the effort has been in the right direction, it is however, constantly in the news, quite often for the wrong reasons. Now, even as it manages the brickbats and high praise, especially for its COVID management, BBMP has thrown a shocker to the public - a Property Tax Demand Notice…

COVID infections are on the upswing, with the World Health Organization announcing an 80 percent average increase in infections over the past four weeks in five of the health agency’s six regions, a jump largely fuelled by the Delta variant. “Delta is a warning that the virus is evolving but it is also a call to action that we need to move now before more dangerous variants emerge,” said Michael Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme, in a briefing. Statistical models seem to suggest that the third wave in India could be three to four times more severe than…