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Chennai and cleanliness
Dirtying public places will attract penalties: The Corporation Council approved rules setting down penalties for littering, spitting, bathing or urinating in public, besides fines for improper disposal of garbage or feeding animals in locations other than those set aside for such activity.
Those not segregating garbage can also be fined under the rules that would be enforced from April 1. A fine of Rs. 500 would be imposed for dumping hazardous waste, medical waste, construction debris and meat and fish waste. Littering, washing vehicles in public places, selling food without dustbins, and dumping garbage outside dustbin would attract a fine of Rs. 100. Washing utensils in public, bathing, spitting or urinating and defecating would attract Rs. 50 as fine.
An intensive awareness campaign would be undertaken in February and March. The infrastructure to handle segregated garbage, including composting yards, would be ready by the time. Residents and commercial establishments would be encouraged to segregate garbage and hand it over to those collecting door-to-door. The assistance of non-governmental organisations and residents' associations would be sought. Once the system was running, the local body would take steps to reduce the number of public dustbins.
Source: From The Hindu. February 1, 2008
The Homeless Worst-Hit
"Chennai has about 54,000 people living on pavements"
 CHENNAI: The brief respite from the rain on Thursday allowed pavement and hut dwellers across the city to spread out soaked belongings in available sunlit spots. While the Chennai Corporation has started undertaking relief work, social workers point out the need for permanent measures such as short-stay homes or dormitories that the homeless can turn to in such times.
Skin problems and insect bites are other problems that the homeless have to deal with.
Ramesh, 34, from the south of the State, is in the city for a few months and used to grab a few hours of sleep on the bridge over the Cooum next to the Choolaimedu signal. That was until the rain came. "If it is the mosquitoes one season, it's rain the next," he says, "that's how the life of the poor is."
The thresholds of commercial establishments partly shading them from the elements are the sought-after places during the rains.
Some even seek out the undersides of bridges, he said.
For Shanti, with three children below the age of 10, the bridge provides space to lie down in the open air. The cramped hut they live in has scarcely any space for a family of five to sleep in.
However, with no other option during the rain, they plug the roof with whatever plastic sheets they can find and try to sleep inside. "I have to get up several times a night to adjust the sheet and prevent water from flowing in," she rues.
A survey carried out by Action Aid International in 2003 estimated that Chennai had about 54,000 people living on the pavement with families — these are the homeless without even huts to call their own. They live almost perpetually on the move with their few belongings always bundled, ready to move at short notice. The organisation is attempting to rally some of the homeless under the banner of Engal Chennai Pavement Dwellers Federation.
Police harassment and abuse from owners of private property near which they stay are common. Their lives are significantly impacted by an inability to prepare their own food, especially during rain, a representative of Action Aid. This means that they have to pick up food from roadside eateries, putting them at risk of other diseases caused by a lack of hygiene.
The heads of non-governmental organisations concede that more facilities are available for children, with several organisations offering rehabilitation programmes or short-stay homes for street children.
There are very few facilities allowing the homeless with families to sleep with a roof over their heads during the rains.
J. Malarvizhi
Source: From The Hindu. December 21, 2007
Bus stops tell Chennai's story
Bus-stops tell Chennai's story: The bus stops in the city, deriving their names from theatres, hospitals, schools, colleges and commercial establishments, tell Chennai's story in fascinating ways. It would seem that this city has flocked long and hard enough to cinema theatres to justify the naming of a number of bus stops after them. Ega, Shanti, Sun, Rohini and Nathamuni Talkies, to name but a few. Or, like Safire, the name remains, telling the history of a place. Kalavakkam Tea Stall and Thoraipakkam Tea Shop are other bus stops that evoke another favourite pastime of the city. Dasaprakash, the hotel, might no longer be operational, but the bus stop name remains. Ice House, once used to store ice, has bequeathed its name alone to the present. Colleges, schools and hospitals, both public and private, are obvious landmarks that very often give their name to the nearest bus stop. Most conductors call out the 'Baby Hospital' stop (in Egmore) loudly well in advance for the benefit of mothers with toddlers who have to find their way to the exit with a wailing child or two in tow. While the Shivaji statue is yet to settle into the public consciousness, the Kannagi Statue and the NSK Statue have bus stops named after them. Some names simply exist, referencing landmarks that may or may not exist any longer. Browsing the list of stages; (or the stops that occur roughly every two kilometres) on the Metropolitan Transport Corporation website throws up Crusher, Cycle Shop, Screw Factory, Tamarind Tree, Water Tank, Traveller’s Bungalow, Fire Station, Five Lamps, Firewood Shop, Burial Ground, Camp, Mosque, Church and Convent. The changing geography of the city can also be referred to in shorthand. When a bus terminus is shifted, the old one immediately becomes O.T., as in Ambattur O.T. and Kodungaiyur O.T. Some changes remain mysterious. The Poonamallee High Road has a Toll Gate bus stop between Aminjikarai and Pachayappa's College, fuelling speculation that a toll gate existed there at some point.
J. MALARVIZHI
Source: From The Hindu December 18, 2007
Chennai and superstitions
Superstitions still abound: Despite technological advancements in medical care, superstitions still supercede science for many patients who seek medical remedy in Chennai city. A patient asked Cardiac doctor to redesign office so that he could treat patients in the east-west direction, according to Vaasthu. Since I came here I realized how much such superstitions are important even to educated people,"
said Dr R. Ravikumar, a specialist in cardiac diseases.Gynaecologists say that it is during the child birth that these sentiments are in full display. The doctor asked to operate on the mother and deliver the baby to coincide with a `favourable star' or
avoid birth at an inauspicious time. Sometimes relatives ask doctors to delay the delivery of a baby when the woman is in labour.Relatives also have superstitions like the baby which is born with the umbilical cord around the neck should not be shown to the uncle.Even during appendicitis or hysterectomy operations, relatives want
the operation to be completed within a specified time as it might extend to the 'inauspicious' hours," said, a city-based gynaecologist.Even medical camps had to be conducted on auspicious days, as people may not turn up. Many clinics receive less than half of the patients on Tuesdays and Fridays because they are considered inauspicious days to receive medical treatment. Surgeries are also hardly scheduled on
those days. A diabetic who visited a clinic said he had sought solution to his health problem by a vaasthu specialist. Instead of relying on exercise and good diet the patient remodeled the entire house at a cost of Rs 7 lakhs.
Source: From Deccan Chronicle November 19, 2007
Chennai and slums
7 lakh live in city slums, says board : Over seven lakh of the 43
lakh people in the Chennai Metropolitan Area live in slums, according
to a senior official in the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB).
As many as 72,827 families live in slums on river margins, road
margins, seashores and public places. The TNSCB also estimates that
there are about 37,000 families in other areas and about 6,150
families reside in encroached parts of the tenement areas, which have
been reserved as parks, public purpose sites, and so on. About 36 per
cent of the slums in the city are located on government land and
about 32 per cent are located on private land," he said. According to
the 2001 census, there are about 1,431 slums in CMA with 1,62,950
households and 7,47,936 people residing in them. The official said
the slum-dwellers have also encroached river and canal banks like the
Buckingham Canal, feeder channels like Mambalam-Nandanam canal and
Otteri Nullah preventing free flow of water and causing stagnation of
water during the rainy season in the nearby residential areas. It is
identified that 5,184 families are living on the margins of such
channels.
Slum families also squat on road margins affecting the free
flow of traffic. It is identified that 22,330 slum families have
squatted on road margins and places required for public purposes.
Sanitation and hygiene along with the consequent health hazards are
the biggest problems that these families face. The number of persons
sharing a public toilet and public urinals is high, with an average
of about 1,086 persons and 2,817 persons per toilet and urinals
respectively. When contacted, Mr T.K. Ramachandran, managing
director, TNSCB said the board was implementing various schemes for
rehabilitating slum dwellers in multi-storied buildings. The TNSCB
has also been constructing affordable houses for slum dwellers on
serviced plots, using locally available materials and adopting low
cost techniques.
Source: From Deccan Chronicle November 16, 2007
TN is 'most urbanised': World Bank
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is the most urbanised state in the country, according to a World Bank study on urbanisation in India. Almost 44 per cent of the State is urbanised, followed by 42.4 per cent in Maharashtra and 37.4 per cent in Gujarat.
According to the study, the country's urban population which was more than 288 million in 2002, will nearly double to touch 500 million by 2017, and the population living in urban slums, which was 41 million will go up to 69 million during the same period.
Though, at present less than a third of the country's population lived in urban areas, they generated two-third of its gross domestic product (GDP) and almost 90 per cent of the government revenues. But the study pointed out that the increasing numbers migrating to cities in search of job opportunities have also brought with them a host of problems.
The problems include poor local governance, critical infrastructure shortages and major service deficiencies that include erratic water and power supply, and inadequate transportation and deteriorating environment.
The study pointed out that many governments in India lacked a modern planning framework and had building regulations that reduced the number of dwelling units available. Policy, planning, and regulation deficiencies were also leading to a proliferation of slums.
K N Arun
Source: From New Indian Express November 3, 2007
Why do children lie?
If truth is a value we want our children to imbibe, it has to be practised by all family members.
Set an Example - It's not enough if we read them moral stories.
As parents, we all want our children to be honest. If our children lie to us about the smallest thing, our first reactions are, "How can you tell a lie? If you tell lies like this who will ever believe you? Telling lies is a bad thing to do!"Instead, do we as parents ask ourselves the question, "Why did my child feel the need to lie to me?" Or "Where did my child learn to lie?"
The reasons
- Because they are not allowed to tell the truth. When a child says honestly, "I hate my brother", he is so strongly reprimanded for it that he learns not to be honest about his feelings in the future.
- To escape punishment or scolding. A child breaks a glass. The mother hears the noise and comes out and says angrily, "Who broke this?" In self-defence the child immediately responds, "I did not do it".
- To avoid doing something they find unpleasant - brushing teeth, washing hands or finishing homework.
- To avoid parental disapproval. "I did not hit him"
- To enjoy in fantasy what they lack in reality. "We played cricket and I alone scored all the runs".
- To cover up for a friend or sibling. "I don't know who tore the book."
And to avoid hurting the feelings of the adult. Thank you, I like the book you gave me.
In the situations described above, how could a parent respond in a way that encourages honest communication?
Acceptance of feelings about his brother — "I know that sometimes you feel angry with him."
Statement of fact — "I see that the glass is broken, let's clean up together." This gives the message that we all make mistakes.
For tasks that children avoid like homework, for example, confrontation does not help. Only by being trusted and given responsibility do children learn to be self-disciplined.
A child who denies hitting his friend does so because he does not expect his parent to try to understand or empathise with his feelings. Instead of scolding with an accusatory tone we could try and understand the situation. "What happened? Did something make you angry? Try using words to express your anger not fists." The child has been guided without humiliation.
To say, "I too wish I hit a century" shows that you understand his aspirations.
In all these situations, the key to building honesty lies in the relationship between parent and child. The more authoritarian and harsh the parent, the more often the child will lie. Is the best way to `improve' a child always to correct and scold? Compassion and empathy will go a long way in getting your children used to telling the truth and making sure they do not react with a lie to any and every uncomfortable situation.
The second question of where children learn to lie is equally important. While we speak eloquently about the importance of truth and read them moral stories, what do they actually see us doing? We adults all tell `little white lies' to simplify our lives, to save time and to spare others' hurt feelings. But when it comes from children, we get enraged, hysterical and moralistic.
But our day is peppered with simple untruths: "Just answer the phone and say that I am not home." "Don't tell your teacher that we went out, tell her you were sick." Then there are lies we tell the children: "We cannot go to the beach today. The beach is closed." "Don't worry, I will be standing right here at your school gate." "I cannot take you because I am going to the doctor."
We must realise that sooner or later, children will find out that we have lied to them. In one of our workshops when we examined this question, parents realised with shock that they lie to their children from morning to night. One parent exclaimed, "Now I really wonder how my child believes a word of what I say!"
If truth is a value we want to teach our children it has to be practised by all members of the family for it to become a way of life.
UMA SHANKER & KESANG MENEZES
Source: The Hindu
The Chennai Corporation won the Champion Award
The Chennai Corporation won the champion award for excellence in municipal initiatives for the year 2006/2007 at the annual national urban development meet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi on Tuesday.
An official release from the Ripon Buildings said that the city corporation was rated champion in the country after analysing the functioning of seven major city corporations including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
The release said that the computerised tax collection method, regularisation of burial ground assistants, introduction of e-tenders, 24-hour distribution of birth and death certificates, introduction of yoga in corporation schools and scholarship for poor students with good marks were the major initiatives that helped the corporation win the award.
The award was conferred on the city corporation after a team comprising five senior IAS officials analysed the recent initiatives and the performance of all the major corporations across the country, the release said.
Besides the corporation was also lauded for its performance in providing trade licence in a short span, construction of modern slaughter houses, computerisation of corporation zonal offices and for effective implementation of the Varumun Kappom scheme of the state government, the release said. The mayor M. Subramanian received the award from Union minister for urban development S. Jaipal Reddy. Municipal administration and water supply department secretary K. Deenabandu, corporation commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni also attended the meeting, the release added.
When contacted the mayor said "The award Commitment to reforms Crisil award for excellence in municipal initiatives - Champion 2006 –07 category (A) mega city is good news for Chennaiites and the corporation staff. We were excited when we were announced as the champions. Efforts will continue to bring more laurels to Chennai."
According to a corporation official 20 aspects of the corporation were analysed for the award including the recently implemented GPS in the corporation vehicles and the construction of modernised crematoriums and parks.
Source: From Deccan Chronicle October 10, 2007
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