Good morning, Chennai!
🌧️ Today’s weather: High: 27 ℃ | Low: 23 ℃ | Mostly cloudy and rainy.
🧐 Did you know? A hundred years ago, about 35-40% of the city was covered by waterbodies.
🤲 Providing opportunities
The RVIVE Bakery and Cafe provides employment opportunities for those with mental illnesses.
What’s it about? RVIVE is a community cafe launched by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and Chennai Mission, founded by M Mahadevan, to provide employment to people with mental illnesses. The bakery and cafe in Kilpauk is part of an initiative to mainstream employing persons with mental illness.
- For those working in the cafe, employment provides income to meet their daily expenses, get official documentation like Aadhaar cards and open bank accounts.
- Employment provides them with an identity and can be beneficial in treating mental illness by boosting their self-esteem and confidence. The treatment is coupled with group homes and supported housing.
Breaking stereotypes: There’s a long way to go in corporate settings to improve accessibility and inclusivity. Working with persons who live with mental illness necessitates patience and sensitivity.
📋 Inclusive Master Plan
The CMDA’s Third Master Plan will look to make Chennai more inclusive.
What’s it about? The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) will formulate strategies for inclusiveness in the metropolitan area and incorporate them into the Third Master Plan (TMP). The plan is for urban design, social, and other infrastructure to be inclusive of gender and sexual minorities.
- The TMP proposes designing public spaces that are safe and accessible by all genders with adequate lighting, clear sightlines, and transport systems that consider the needs of women and marginalised groups. Social infrastructure will include community spaces like childcare and vocational training.
- According to the planning authority, gender-sensitive designs in classrooms, restrooms, and common areas will foster equitable access and participation for kids across the gender spectrum.
Components of the Plan: The TMP will cover 1,189 sq km of the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) and align with the 2024 TN State Policy for Women, released in February. It’s based on the Gender-Inclusive Urban Planning Design handbook by the World Bank, which is funding the CMDA’s TMP.
🏞️ Restoring the Kadapakkam Lake
The Chennai Corporation has proposed a plan to restore the lake into a large eco-park.
What’s it about? The large water body has been neglected and encroached upon for several years. The Corporation wants to restore it under the Kadapakkam Lake Redevelopment Project and transform it into North Chennai’s largest eco-park.
- The lake, in Ward 16 in Manali, spans 135 acres and is an important water and irrigation source for neighbouring villages. The lake has shrunk from its original size of 149 acres.
- The project, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), will involve widening, deepening, and strengthening the lake’s banks to increase its storage capacity. The park will feature walking trails, a butterfly park, bird islands, and a play area for kids.
Biodiversity survey: A 2020 biodiversity survey showed that the lake wasn’t polluted by sewage. It had 124 species of flowers, 12 species of fish, 30 species of butterflies, and 46 species of birds.
🧑⚖️ Student clashes cases
The state government informed the Madras High Court that over 200 cases were booked concerning student clashes.
What’s it about? The state government told the High Court that 231 cases were booked in connection with fights between groups of students of different city colleges in the past decade. The court had previously asked the government for details on the cases involving student clashes.
- Of the 231 cases, 198 were registered by the Greater Chennai Police and the remaining by the Government Railway Police. The highest number of cases were booked on Pachaiyappa and Presidency college students, with 58 and 28, respectively.
- The judge asked the principals of both colleges to meet with students and sensitise them about violent behaviour.
Any solution? R Thirumoorthy, appearing for the intervenor G Aravindhasamy of the Students Federation of India (SFI) said there’s a need for a student body to be established in colleges to find a long-term solution.
✨ Things to do…
Here are some fun and interesting things to do in the city over the weekend!
- Sonu Nigam fans, be sure to catch him live in concert this Saturday.
- Celebrate SPB Charan and his biggest hits at the One Man Show this Sunday.
- Experience stories and music at the Open Mic Campfire this Sunday.
- Budding screenwriters can catch the two-day workshop by Anandha Kumaresan this weekend.
- A holocaust survivor’s tale comes to life in Wiesenthal by Tom Dugan this Sunday.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll Results:
- I use a non-Google search engine regularly: 38.9%
- I don’t use a non-Google search engine regularly: 61.1% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What’s your favourite quote from a book or movie?
Shiva: “‘I do because I must’, quoting Yudhishthir in Difficulty of being good by Gurucharan Das”
Kavi: “‘When you really want something, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve’ – The Alchemist”
Suchi: “From The Alchemist – ‘It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.'”
Rangarajan: “‘Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk’ – Ironman”
That’s it for today. Have a great weekend!