Civic

Garbage dump at BKC school gets cleared after two years A mountain of garbage had begun to pile up over the past two years in a plot right next to Ascend International School, in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), which began to get cleared up on August 24th. The garbage pile posed serious health concerns for children and raised a stench during monsoons. “We have already fined the land owner ₹10,000 under the corporation’s Swachhta Abhiyan. The owner has been asked to find the source of this garbage, and ensure that the land remains clean henceforth,” said a BMC official from the H-East ward.…

GCC to create 28 new playgrounds In a welcome move, Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has planned to construct 28 new playgrounds with several amenities across the city. It would be made free for the public. A sum of Rs 29.4 crore has been allotted to construct the playgrounds.  Ten of these playgrounds will come up in the first phase of the project. In a bid to make it more accessible for people from the economically-weaker sections, the GCC has planned to set up these grounds near Urban Habitat Development Board colonies. As a pilot, a playground has been created near the KP…

The landscape of street dog management programmes in India has changed significantly in the last few decades, as rapid urbanisation and growing interest in animal welfare has brought such programmes to higher prominence. The Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2001, (amended in 2010) were formulated as a guiding document for all state and city administrations and Animal Welfare organisations, on the dos and don’ts of conducting mass street dog sterilisation and vaccination programmes. While all street dog sterilisation programmes are implemented in India according to these rules, the actual implementation of these programmes is not without challenge. The rules have…

As India completes 75 years of independence, it is important to critically examine freedom that is now reduced to mere symbols and performance. While the privileged enjoy comfortable lives, vulnerable communities, like lower-caste groups, live on scraps and do inhumane, caste-based jobs for a living. Generations of people are forced into cleaning excreta in sewers despite several technological and scientific advancements that should make the work of manual scavenging less labour-intensive. The state has repeatedly failed at bare minimum provisions to rehabilitate these workers, despite a ban on manual scavenging. Now, a nationwide campaign called Stop Killing Us is expressing…

A collective of people's movements and citizens have been working to strengthen local governance in Tamil Nadu. Voice of People, a non-partisan, voluntary organisation based in Chennai, is part of the collective looking to unlock participatory democracy in local governance through functional Area Sabhas and Ward Committees. The above demand can become a reality in Tamil Nadu through the implementation of the Tamil Nadu Municipal (Amendments) Act 2010 (ACT No. 35). As a remarkable step forward in the way of urban local governance in Tamil Nadu, the State Government notified the Rules of the said Act on June 24 2022,…

I-Day rush on BMTC On Independence Day, Namma Metro recorded the highest-ever ridership of 8.25 lakh, mainly due to the ‘freedom march’ organised by the Congress, as well as the visitors of the Lalbagh flower show. BMRCL (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited) officials said that 4.02 lakh passengers travelled on the Green Line connecting Nagasandra in the northwest to Silk Institute in the southwest; 2.05 lakh on the Purple Line linking Baiyappanahalli in the east with Kengeri in the southwest and over 1.65 lakh using the interchange station at Majestic. BMRCL ran close to 170 trips on Monday, which was more…

Maximum pothole complaints reported from Western suburbs Data from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a day after a couple lost their lives to a pothole accident, at a carriageway flyover on the WEH opposite the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), showed that nearly 48% of total pothole-related complaints have been raised from Mumbai’s western suburbs in 2022. “The WEH is being maintained by MSRDC and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The WEH along with the adjoining service road is infamous for potholes, however, it’s not BMC’s responsibility to maintain them. Whenever we receive any complaint we forward it to the responsible agencies,”…

Greater Chennai Corporation cracks whip on unauthorised hoardings The civic body removed 1705 unauthorised hoardings out of a total of 1800 hoardings across the city. The frames that hold these hoardings were also removed. Thiru vi ka Nagar had the most number of illegal hoardings with 355. Around 200 hoardings in the zones of South Chennai, including Perungudi, Sholinganallur and Alandur were also removed. Manali had the least number of unauthorised hoardings, with only 10 hoardings in the Zone. This initiative was part of the mass cleaning drive organised in Chennai, which saw the participation of 877 volunteers and 133…

Pullapuram has been home to around 1,000 residents for over five decades now. Now, recent developments in the area have created serious difficulties for them in accessing basic civic amenities. Developments that have arisen due to an ongoing friction with the residents of the nearby Tamil Nadu Police Housing Board Quarters. Years of peace no more Pullapuram is located adjacent to the Police Housing Board Quarters on Poonamallee High Road in Chetpet. The locality has eight streets with over 320 houses. Most of the residents here are involved in manual labour such as conservancy work with the Greater Chennai Corporation…

When Bano Abdul Sattar (28) was a young girl living in Bandra east chawls, she could only do jobs that her family deemed appropriate for a woman. She picked up multiple jobs in her early teens; she helped her family run a roadside anda bhurji stall at night, worked as a tailor, and even as a mehendi artist. But this was far from what fascinated her. What captured her imagination when she was young were cars and the thought of driving one someday. And so, at the age of 16, she did just that. "Main na, chupke uncle log ko paise deti thi.…