After more than two decades of regulatory confusion, the Tamil Nadu government has come out with a draft new Comprehensive Mini Bus Scheme, 2024, to provide public transport connectivity in the far corners of the State. There is no segregation of rural and...
Wayfinding is part of global travel culture but in India it poses a serious challenge. Even in the era of national job mobility and a post-COVID tourism wave, governments don’t make it easy for people to find public places and essential facilities even in the biggest cities. Indian politicians...
Urbanization has reached such a level in Tamil Nadu that the functioning of the CMDA (Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority) is under the lens now. A failing CMDA is an indication of the poor state of urban governance in the state reflected in declining migration from villages. Seasonal...
At least 15 people have died on a stretch of a national highway in prosperous Tamil Nadu that connects Tiruvannamalai and Bengaluru in just ten days during October 2023, bringing the State closer to another dubious road traffic accident record. Only some months ago, Union Transport Minister...
With an estimated 2,80,000 stray dogs on its streets, Kerala is in danger of becoming Dogs own Country rather than the iconic Gods Own Country, known for its serene and green landscape. There are another 9,00,000 licensed pet dogs many of which join the strays thanks to neglect or being...
Chennai Mayor R. Priya’s week-long trip from Saturday to Spain, France and Italy with a focus on best practices for Solid Waste Management (SWM) should be a welcome development as she would see how countries in the European Union (EU) are faring on targets for reuse and recycling of Municipal...
Strange as it may seem, the bustling traffic on Arcot Road, a State Highway feeding into Porur, has been redirected since May 6 via densely populated residential neighbourhoods in Kodambakkam and K.K. Nagar, among other places, to facilitate work on the 118 km Phase II of the Chennai Metro....
Something is better than nothing, the Madras High Court noted, and ordered the Tamil Nadu government to procure 499 low-floor buses suitable for use by people with disabilities in cities and suburbs. With its order of April 18, the Madras High Court has for now brought to a close the prolonged...
The appointment of P K Sekar Babu as the Minister in-charge of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) in February 2023 was seen by the real estate sector as a focused attempt by the DMK to get someone with core knowledge of the city to help steer its expansion. The Chennai...
Autos in Chennai may be renouncing optimal earnings by failing to adopt a dynamic pricing system that combines a fair rate of return and a willingness to operate. This is reflected in different developments. For one, there was an attack on bike taxi operators at Koyambedu recently which left...
