URBAN POOR Citizen Matters, Chennai

PM Modi just promised Perumbakkam 1000+ new houses. Who will solve the woes of the existing ones?

January 13, 2021 Aruna Natarajan

Cramped spaces, fire hazards, poor drainage and lack of facilities pose grave problems for the residents of existing tenements in this resettlement colony. How will expansion help?

What does the common Chennaiite eat when vegetables sell at Rs 80-100 a kilo?

December 18, 2020 Laasya Shekhar

Shrunken platters and compromise on nutrition have become inevitable in lower income families with vegetable prices on a steady rise over the last few months.

Semmancheri residents don’t want food packets. This is what they really need

December 16, 2020 M Palani Kumar/PARI

Cyclone Nivar inundated Semmanjeri – but the misery that followed is nothing new for the people relocated to this area to make way for development projects.

COVID imperative: Collective effort needed to ensure all kids have access to learning

October 3, 2020 Rinku Mecheri

E-learning in times of COVID-19 has brought out the stark divide between those who can afford gadgets and stable connectivity and those who can’t.

COVID-19: Women, children in low-income housing bore the worst brunt

September 18, 2020 Aruna Natarajan

The woes faced by the residents of Chennai’s resettlement colonies have been heavily underlined by COVID-19. But some have been affected worse than others. Why?

Why COVID proved to be a greater challenge in Chennai’s resettlement colonies

September 10, 2020 Aruna Natarajan

The lockdown has exposed the grave vulnerabilities of lakhs of people in resettlement colonies of Chennai. What are the lessons from this experience?

சென்னை நகர்ப்புற ஏழை குழந்தைகளின் ஊட்டச்சத்து கோவிடால் எவ்வாறு பாதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது?

July 29, 2020 Laasya Shekhar

ஊரடங்கு காலத்தில பள்ளி விடுமுறையின் காரணத்தால் பல சிறுவர்கள் மதிய உணவு இல்லாமல் தவிக்கின்றனர். சிறுவர்களிடம் ஊட்டச்சத்தின்மை அதிகரிக்கும் நிலையை எப்படி கையாளலாம்?

Why many children on Chennai’s streets don’t want to go home for lunch

July 17, 2020 Laasya Shekhar

Five-year-old Kumar says he is not hungry. 10-year-old Surendar is more candid: he misses the mid-day meal at school. What the lockdown in Anganwadi Centres and schools means for these children of the urban poor

Why the lockdown exemption for fishing has brought little cheer to Chennai’s fisherfolk

April 21, 2020 Laasya Shekhar

Following the central relaxation of lockdown for fishing and other marine activity, authorities in Chennai took a concerted decision to allow a specified number of boats into the sea twice a week. But that has done little to ease the suffering of the fisher community; here’s why.

How migrant workers at Kanathur are living through the COVID crisis

March 30, 2020 Mahesh V

A hundred odd families, primarily from Jharkhand, employed as masons or workers in the city, live in Kanathur off East Coast Road. How are they coping in the face of the lockdown, when most government schemes are also out of bounds for them?

The silver lining in Chennai skies

January 24, 2020 Swati Amar

Age or illness has not dampened the zeal with which some of Chennai’s senior citizens are working to create a better life for others. Swati Amar meets a few such individuals in the city who are setting sterling examples in how to savour life to the fullest, through sharing and giving!

A bangle for a dream: A tale of uncertain futures along the Buckingham canal

October 29, 2019 Sukriti Vats

A group of residents along the Buckingham Canal in R A Puram live under the imminent threat of eviction, worried about the loss of livelihood and the homes they have built over decades of hard work.

On thriving ECR, a family left behind relates its story

September 16, 2019 Mahesh V

Paul Rajapandian, or Raja, lives with his two daughters and a granddaughter in a small shack alongside ECR road. His family has been in the cane weaving business for over two generations. In the buzzing suburbs of our metropolis, lives such as Raja’s remain invisible.

When families live on three pots of water a day: Lessons from Chennai slums

July 11, 2019 Laasya Shekhar

A ground report and photos from the slums and economically backward areas of the city: How are people here dealing with the water shortage and sharing the meagre supplies?

Who looks after the OSR parks in Chennai?

July 8, 2019 Mahesh V

They take care of the city’s lungs, and yet remain invisible most of the time: the caretakers of the OSR parks around the city. A citizen journalist finds out what life’s like for them.