Civic

The cancellation of Chennai as an IPL venue this year, black flags for PM Modi, environmentalists crying foul — discontent is written large across Chennai as we take a quick recap of the week’s most significant news.

Renovation or beautification of parks finds routine mention in Corporation budgets. These photos of ill-maintained surroundings and dangerously damaged play equipment however cry out, how were the funds used?

What was once a lush wetland is now a huge mountain of unsegregated waste that catches fire every now and then. The authorities do not seem to be too bothered, however.

What was the city talking about this week? The Cauvery tribunal or the dilution in coastal zone regulation? Or was it the new drones from GCC? If you’ve missed any of it, never mind. Here’s the weekly news in a nutshell.

Toilets by the shore, illegal sewage pipes draining into stormwater drains, debris dumped secretly — A citizen journalist’s trip to the Vannankuttai in GKM Colony reveals the sordid tale of how Chennai is losing its precious waterbodies.

Large stretches of pavement were dug up and young trees uprooted by the GCC between Theosophical Society and Olcott School to make way for bicycle lanes. Citizens put up strong resistance and have forced authorities to rethink the project.

Never miss what’s important to you and your city. Watch this space every weekend for a round up of the week’s key news from different sources, all of which impacts you, the Chennai citizen.

For the second year in a row, a bare-bones statement of accounts was passed through a secretive exercise. While the figures themselves raise many questions, more alarming is the fact that there is no elected body of representatives for citizens to approach.

In response to a PIL filed by a Chitlapakkam resident activist, the court directed the Town Panchayat to mandate milling while relaying roads. This applies to the entire state of Tamil Nadu, including the Greater Chennai Corporation.

It has been well over a year since the city has had an elected municipal Council to handle civic issues and it is still uncertain when elections to the Greater Chennai Corporation will be held.

A remote EB office, tardy redress of complaints, dangerous placement of junction boxes — these are just some of the issues that Adyar residents have been fighting, especially after the office was moved to Thiruvanmiyur.

Battered roads, mounting garbage or hanging cables, whatever the problem, members of this civic forum will guide you on informing the right officials and having these resolved.