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The Hindu

Scores of non-toxic medicinal cooling packs lying near Greater Chennai Corporation’s dump site in Perungudi

Vamsi Kapilavai, Senior Researcher at CAG, commenting on the large quantities of supposedly 'non-toxic' coolant packages and discarded close to the Pallikaranai marshland, asks how these can be treated as non-toxic materials. Even just the plastic packaging is well established as having toxic properties. They are known to leach several toxins into the soil, air and water when exposed to even ambient conditions. 

MTC is the latest to join the list of government line agencies that are harnessing the reach of social media platforms

Are civic agencies doing enough to engage with the public, via social media? Sumana, researcher at CAG, comments that grievance redressal is important content to the public, and one that should be prioritized by civic authorities.

Hypertension in healthcare: Tamil Nadu’s march towards universal coverage

As the incidence of hypertension soars across the nation, the TN government has pioneered the Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam scheme, in a bid to take healthcare for non-communicable diseases to the hard to reach communities in the state. CAG spoke to beneficiaries of the scheme and this piece documents these patient voices.

Spotlight neighbourhood stores that shun banned plastics

An article about CAG's Zero Waste Store Locator - an online resource to help shoppers identify local stores that can sell plastic free. If you are looking to start your zero waste journey, this is a good place to begin. The Zero Waste Store Locator is a crowd sourced database - so if you know of a shop that should go here, get in touch with us!

Petition in NGT seeks restriction of plastic milk pouches by Aavin

The quintessential  Aavin milk packets, produced in the thousands, are made of Low Density PolyEthylene (LDPE), a type of plastic that can be recycled effectively. However, Chennai-based petitioner Ayya points out that the pouches are merely discarded, endangering human health and the environment. The petition filed before the Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal cites findings from CAG's plastic brand audit (2021) that Aavin milk pouches constituted 7% of the plastic waste analysed in the audit. 

Chennai’s love for bicycles erodes with time and traffic

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.