The mountains of wet waste produced by Chennai everyday due to lack of waste segregation are emitting large amounts of the most potent greenhouse gas of all — Methane. An initiative called Climate Trace that identifies major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the world, using...
The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has decided to widen several roads in the suburbs around the metropolis, which are currently no bigger than village streets and are heavily encroached by commercial establishments. Whether it is Anakaputhur, Kundrathur, Poonamallee,...
Having a bus stop within easy walking distance, a usable pavement to get there, a single ticket to make trips on buses, Metro, suburban and MRTS trains and real-time information on all buses and trains now come within the realm of possibility, as the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport...
Now that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has formally heralded the northeast monsoon in Chennai and issued a forecast of heavy to very heavy rainfall across Tamil Nadu between October 31 and November 3, Chennai got its first demonstration of how the ambitious stormwater drain project...
After a lot of data juggling on what percentage of new storm drains in Chennai are complete, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has announced that 100 drain sites would be closed with centering sheets to prevent a repeat of what happened to journalist Muthukrishnan. Only on September 29,...
During the last few years, the aftermath of the northeast monsoon has left several parts of Tamil Nadu waterlogged, effectively evicting lakhs of poor people from their homes, forcing them to move out, desperately seeking assistance from the governments and other agencies. Ironically, Tamil...
Every time the traffic police in Chennai and other cities of Tamil Nadu launch a “road safety drive”, there are spectacular displays and a week of media charades, but nothing really changes on the tarmac. Badly behaved motorists don’t feel persuaded to drive by the book. A case in point is the...
At a discussion with consumer rights activists recently, a Regional Transport Officer said candidly that Thoppur in Dharmapuri district on the Salem-Bengaluru highway is the most dangerous stretch of road in the whole of south India. Although the Transport Department has tried to intervene,...
The ball has been set rolling for preparing a Third Master Plan (TMP) for Chennai under the aegis of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA); there is high expectation that the future of the metropolis should be one of vibrancy without the “functional anarchy” tag that J.K....
Another edition of the Swachh Survekshan awards and honours was rolled out recently for 2022, hiding basic failures in India’s urban waste management as envisaged under law. Going by the metrics of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Tamil Nadu fared badly, with only one award for...
