'The OMR stretch alone, every year, 34 #pedestrians die, 90% of them while trying to cross the road (statistics from Chennai Traffic Police, 2019)' - Alarming statistics from #Chennai highlight the importance of #pedestriansafety. Find out more about the National Pedestrian Conference.
Following the much anticipated election of local councillors in Tamil Nadu, Mr. N. L. Rajah, Senior Advocate, Madras High Court and Advisor to CAG, writes about how the roles can be truly transformative only with fundamental changes like better allocation of funds and clearly defined power demarcations.
S.Saroja, executive director of CAG talks about what motivates her and powers the CAG team - the goal of enabling people to make clear informed choices that are good for them and the environment.
Chennai's repeated floods indicate that stop-gap arrangements like placing pumps and drains on different streets are inadequate. 'We need different departments to coordinate and work as a team', says S.Saroja, CAG, for long-term solutions.
Speaking on TN government's Meendum Manjappai initiative, S.Saroja, CAG explains that the focus should be on banning production of items listed in the Single Use Plastic ban, instead of merely placing the onus on consumers.
Speaking at the 'Plastic Emergency' event in Chennai, S.Saroja, CAG said that the single use plastic ban in Tamilnadu was not effectively implemented.
CAG's webinar on 'Front of Pack Labelling - Its relevance to a healthy food environment' along with Home Science Department of Women's Christian College, Chennai had media coverage in 21 newspapers namely, Dinamalar, Times of India, The Hindu, B4U Media, Chennai Vision, Najeevana Express, Deccan News, Chennai Views, Express News Asia, Chennai Press news, Chennai online, Talk of City, Andhra Jyothi, Chennai Telugu News Times, Vaartha, Malai Thamizhagam, Tamil yugam, Virtual Times, News Today, Tamil Sudar and Makkal Kural.
Constant and vigilant enforcement is crucial in keeping pavements clear of encroachments especially of vehicles & shops extending their stores on to the pavements. Hawkers & vendors must be given space as per the National Vendors Act, says Sumana Narayanan of CAG.
'Greater Chennai Corporation is set to enforce the single-use plastic ban starting next week. CAG's study on the effectiveness of the two year old ban indicates that banned plastic items remain prevalent. Vamsi Kapilavai, CAG, explains that an ecosystem of alternatives needs to be established for the ban to be effective'.
CAG wrote to the Minister for Social Welfare, GoTN highlighting the need to ensure food under the Mid Day Meal Scheme continues to reach underpriveliged children even though schools are not functioning in person. Otherwise, considering the impact of the pandemic on livelihoods, children may be pressed to work for daily wages and this will have a huge impact on their education even after schools resume full functioning.
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