Chennai Buzz: Lockdown extended | Metro rail kickstarts phase-2 | Committee for online class guidelines…and more

Weekly recap of important news from your city.

COVID-19: Lockdown extended, TPR decreases

Over the past few days, Chennai has witnessed a downward trend in the total number of new COVID-19 cases in the city. On May 26th, the test positivity rate (TPR) stood at 12.1%. To bring down the numbers further, the Tamil Nadu government has extended the total lockdown till June 7th.

In a bid to vaccinate people with disabilities, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has initiated special camps and door-step services. As on May 27th, 118 persons with disabilities have been inoculated in Chennai. The home visits enable those who cannot visit the centres to get their jabs on time. People with disabilities who would like to get vaccinated can dial 18004250111 or 97007 99993 for registration. 

Vaccination drive for essential service providers aged between 18 and 44 has been initiated last week. This covers newspaper distributors, milk suppliers, roadside vendors, staff at grocery stores and pharmacies and other frontline workers on a priority basis. 

Source: DT Next | The New Indian Express


Read more: With close to 50000 active cases, why is Chennai unable to ramp up vaccination?


Metro rail phase-2 to be completed by 2026

The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has floated tenders to kickstart the phase-2 project of metro rail which will link core areas of Chennai with IT hubs in Porur and Poonamallee. The project includes an elevated corridor with 18 stations that runs for 16 km and 12 underground stations that runs for 10.1 km. This phase covers 118.9 km and is planned to be completed by 2026. 

This line has three corridors: Corridor -3 – From Madhavaram to Sipcot (45.8 Km), Corridor -4 – From Lighthouse to Poonamalle Bypass (26.1 Km), Corridor-5- From Madhavaram to Sholinganallur (47 Km).

The metro rail agency recently awarded the contracts to three companies, of which two contracts (one each to Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Construction-KEC International Consortium) are for the construction of a portion of corridor 4. The preparatory work for the project will begin in a month.

Source: The Times of India

Online classes to be recorded

Online classes have been embraced reluctantly by schools due to COVID-19. Pic: Representational image

Following concerns raised by several students and alumni of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB) School, Chennai, over sexual harassment allegations against a male teacher, the 59-year-old male teacher has been arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012. 

One of the students had reportedly complained of the teacher taking online classes semi-naked. Soon after current and past students of the institution started to call out sexual harassment incidents on social media. Many students from other schools in the city have also begun voicing out similar complaints.

Following this, the Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced that all schools should maintain recordings of online classes. He has also directed the formation of a committee to frame guidelines to standardise online classes to prevent sexual harassment in educational institutions.

Source: The Quint | The New Indian Express


Read more: All that we learnt in 2020 about learning


Mass clean up drive launched

In a bid to prevent the outbreak of vector-borne infections like dengue, the civic body has kickstarted a special mass clean up drive to clear solid and construction wastes lying around the city. Waste dumped around slum clearance board settlements, legacy waste near water bodies and waterways and roads will be cleared during this campaign.

The civic body has directed the sanitary workers to clear about 5,000 tonnes of wastes in 10 days. 1,500 sanitation workers and 600 road workers have been engaged in this clean-up drive. 

Engineers employed with the civic body at the ward-level have been entrusted with monitoring the task. Similarly, private contractors have been directed to organise the drive in the respective zones of the city corporation for which they are responsible for dealing with solid waste.

Source: The Hindu | The Times of India

[Compiled by Bhavani Prabhakar]

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Comments:

  1. Sreedhar Rao says:

    Good Initiatives by the Government. It is requested to take action in clearing Dump/Waste/Garbage dumped in Iyyappanthangal Bus Stand to Paraniputhur Road near Crematorium.

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