Articles by Laasya Shekhar

It has been raining on and off in Chennai over the past few weeks. And yet, 59-year-old P Mary from Saidapet has a recurring nightmare waking her up in the middle of the night every other day. In her dream, she is invariably exerting herself on the lever of the hand pump. After what seems like endless minutes of strenuous labour, water drips from the tap, drop by drop, a pale yellow colour. Reluctantly, she empties the pot, for there's a perceptible stench emanating from the water. Now, she has to again pump for another five minutes in order to…

Picture this: No jet black smoke from vehicles. No constant noise from engines. No toxic carbon-laden air to choke your lungs as you walk along a city thoroughfare. It might sound Utopian now, but if there is a boom in electric mobility, this ideal could well become reality on Chennai roads. One of the first steps towards that has been by a private auto service provider, Makkal Auto, which rolled out the city’s first electric auto last week (August 25), . The initiative has garnered appreciation from Chennaites for two reasons: one, electric autos would reduce emissions and pave the…

With Ganesh Chaturthi just around the corner, beautifully crafted Ganesh idols have begun to brighten up the streets of Chennai. Even though the colourful, plaster of Paris idols are visibly high in number, clay ones are in the market too. According to Kumudha R, a vendor at Mylapore market, the demand for clay idols has been increasing, thanks to the awareness generated on eco-friendly or 'green' festivals. “People have become more aware of the damage caused by Plaster of Paris idols. So they opt for mud ones,” says Kumudha.  The demand is evident from the increasing price of clay which…

Mahalakshmi street at T Nagar. Harrington Road in Chetpet. Station Border Road at Chrompet. The story is similar in all these localities. Once serene residential neighbourhoods, they now host a number of commercial and institutional establishments.  Let’s take the case of Mahalakshmi Street in T Nagar. A private bank is being operated from this primarily residential locality, which has no infrastructural support for commercial establishments. There is no designated parking space. Residents came to know about the bank only when it was being constructed.  It is not the conversion alone that is attracting eyeballs, but also the fact that residents,…

Besides showcasing the architectural expertise and aesthetics of their time, temple tanks also play an extremely important role as water storage systems in Chennai. Chennai has 39 temple tanks (excluding the suburban area) according to a study conducted in 2008.  As the rains arrived, a few temple tanks in the city were filled to the brim with water, thus helping in groundwater recharge while offering a spectacular view for devotees. "Most temples were designed to include tanks, an indigenous way of ensuring water management as part of religion and ritual. These tanks were dug by the benefactors and philanthropists," said…

In April 2019, the Madras High Court, acting on deoccupation orders issued by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), directed the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to demolish the structures put up by a restaurant chain on Old Mahabalipuram Road, on land that was classified as residential.  The Court struck down the reclassification and subsequent planning permission granted by the GCC as 'fraudulent'. This is a rare occurrence, not just in Chennai, but in most of our rapidly growing cities. As urban India grows, and larger numbers of people migrate to cities, commercial establishments of every hue and size begin to…

‘I can’t risk passing on an infection to my baby’ ‘Giving a stranger’s milk to my baby feels weird’ ‘I will not be able to feed my baby if I donate the excess milk.’ These are a few misconceptions among new mothers that deter them from donating to human milk banks or accepting milk from them. To be fair, human milk banks are a relatively new concept in our cities.  The World Health Organisation recommends mothers worldwide to exclusively breastfeed infants for the child's first six months to achieve optimal growth, development and health.  But there are many mothers who…

1984: Vyjayantimala Bali | 1989: Vyjayantimala Bali | 2019: Thamizhachi Thangapandian.  And it ends there, this tiny list of women MPs elected from Madras/ Chennai. It took 32 years since the first Lok Sabha election in 1952 to get our first woman MP and a thirty-year wait for the second. Vyjayanthimala Bali was elected from South Madras constituency on the first two occasions and Thamizhachi follows in her footsteps, elected from the same constituency (now South Chennai). This only reiterates the immediate need for passing the Women’s Reservation Bill in the parliament to ensure that at least 33 per cent of seats…

Four months after the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) initiated serious action on waste reduction and management in the city, the civic body is beginning to see the results. According to statistics obtained from Chennai Corporation, the daily average of garbage collected in Chennai has fallen from 5098 Metric Tonnes (MT) in March to 4493 MT in June, a reduction of 605 MT. In other words, Chennai Corporation is stopping an average of 18000 MT of waste from reaching the already burdened landfills of Perungudi and Kodungaiyur every month. Roadmap to reduction Here are the five steps being followed by Chennai Corporation…

It was not the first time, nor the last, but at 5.30 am on July 16th, around an hour after Metro services resumed, Vadapalani Station had no security officials to guard the baggage scanners or frisk commuters. Commuters who patiently followed rules by waiting at the baggage scanner were met with yells of the staff belonging to the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL). “Just collect your baggage and move,” shouted two staff members, pointing at the unmanned scanners and standing on the other side of the automated gates.  On July 18th, around 7 am, St Thomas Mount station saw a…