Madras Christian College Citizen Matters, Chennai

As Chennai reels under water crisis, faulty restoration of Paruthipattu lake angers residents

May 30, 2019 Laasya Shekhar

An eco park at Paruthipattu Lake is due for inauguration. But with restoration work causing raw sewage to enter the lake, citizens are least cheered by the prospect of a boating facility and more worried about groundwater contamination in this time of acute water scarcity.

Chennai’s growing tryst with alcohol, cannabis and LSD and how to curb it

March 18, 2019 Laasya Shekhar

Dry lizard tail, nail polish remover and brown sugar — did you know these constitute growing addictions among the young and old in Chennai? Take a look at the reasons behind the vicious growth of substance abuse in the city and how the government could step in to curb the problem.

Helping a homeless, mentally ill woman in Chennai: A personal experience

February 9, 2019 S Sudharshan

M S Paoyaola, a committed second year student of social work at the Madras Christian College, came upon a homeless, mentally ill young woman near the streets of St Thomas Mount. Her experience thereafter says a lot about how we can become a more empathetic city in general.

Statues of Chennai: Did you know these facts?

November 9, 2018 Laasya Shekhar and Aruna Natarajan

It is the season of statues. As controversies continue around the tallest statue set up in Gujarat, and a prospective ‘grand statue’ at the gates of UP’s newly renamed town, here’s a quick quiz to test how well you know the ones in your city.

Of child marriages and substance abuse: How Kannagi Nagar children sketched their problems

October 4, 2018 Laasya Shekhar

Art therapy emerged as an effective tool in Kannagi Nagar, as children expressed their concern and fears through pictures. See how their sketches bring out the social evils prevailing in the area.

11 years of hollow promises later, Nochi Nagar residents evicted on ‘verbal’ notice

August 7, 2018 Laasya Shekhar

For 11 years, tsunami survivors here had been living in temporary shelters, in sorry conditions. Now even those have been destroyed, supposedly to make way for houses to be built for them. But TNSCB hardly gave them any notice and they have nowhere to go.

Trees or classrooms? Anna university experiment could show the way

March 16, 2018 Laasya Shekhar

A number of educational institutions in the city have been felling trees on campus to meet their infrastructural needs. Can transplantation, as tried by Anna University, provide a solution?