The Metro Rail construction, along the OMR, has significantly disrupted movement of traffic on this major artery. Sumana, CAG, emphasises the need for a more robust public transport network along the road to ease the congestion. Will a BRTS network go towards solving some of these issues? We need data and feasibility studies to inform this further.
A waste map that will show methane emissions from landfills around the world is to be launched at COP-28. Vamsi Shankar Kapilavai, CAG, describes Chennai's landfills as 'methane ticking bombs' but also adding that when presented with data on these, Municipality authorities are receptive to addressing these issues. The proposed AI map (which will make organic waste, visible through satellite imagery) will therefore give governments and CSOs much needed data to address methane emissions and its contribution to the climate crisis.
Sumana, CAG, explains that to be properly utilised, a cycle track must be continuous, with permanent separations between track and road, with speed limits in place for motorists. She adds that without this, the proposed cycle track between Neelankarai and Akkarai will go the way other city cycle tracks have gone before it - dysfunctional.
With nearly 8000 post graduate medical specialisation seats going vacant, the National Medical Council has decided to bring down eligibility criteria, allowing even those students with zero and negative marks on their qualifying exams to pursue further studies. Saroja, CAG, asks what the point of qualifying exams is then, if it does not serve a gate-keeping function, allowing only deserving students to progress into specialisations.
As fans of AR Rahman have been left angry and disappointed after the booking fiasco during his most recent Chennai concert, Saroja, CAG explains that mismanagement of the event will fall under 'deficiency of services' under consumer law. Ticket holders will therefore be well within their rights to approach the Consumer Fora and demand full refunds and compensation for mental agony caused by events over that evening.
As electricity bills soar after the tariff revision by TANGEDCO in 2022, Vishnu Rao, CAG, explains that commercial entities' and industries' high tariffs are currently subsidising domestic use. To keep costs bearable, the state government needs to look into revising the subsidy they offer domestic consumers. Meanwhile consumers must prioritise transitioning into cleaner energy sources such as rooftop solars.
Foot over-bridges (FOBs) are a poor option to help pedestrians safely cross a road. Women feel unsafe using them; people with disabilities cannot use them at all; and even the average pedestrian finds the extra walk tedious. Sumana, CAG, explains that at-grade pedestrian crossings are needed every 200 metres as per IRC Guidelines, along with a fundamental shift in the attitude of motorists towards vulnerable road users.
Despite noteworthy efforts by the government (such as through the Meendum Manjappai campaign) to reduce the use of single-use plastics, they stubbornly remain in our lives. Sumana, CAG, explains that this is a problem that must be addressed at the source - with the production of plastic and plastic products itself.
This article explores the need for teaching climate change within the educational framework, and how this has progressed in India. Mala Balaji, researcher, talks about why CAG developed a textbook on climate change for 'impressionable middle-grade students' and how this work has been carried forward.
As cyclists are increasingly crowded out of our roads, this article quotes a study by CAG that found that livelihood cyclists (or captive cyclists, as they cannot afford a motorised form of transport) are the ones mostly left on our roads, battling traffic. Sumana, CAG, explains that piecemeal approaches to making cyclists safer, such as isolated cycle tracks on a few roads, are not good enough to solve the problem of the vulnerable cyclist.