Good morning, Chennai!
⛅ Today’s weather: Sunny with some cloud cover.
🧐 Did you know? The Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway and the Mysore State Railway merged to form the Southern Railway.
🏍️ The cause of road accidents
The Chennai Police is trying to find out the actual causes of road accidents with a structured methodology.
What’s it about? The Greater Chennai Traffic Police (GCTP) underwent a training course conducted by the Centre for Road Safety Excellence (CoERS) at IIT Madras. The GCTP’s traffic investigation wing is trying to find out the actual causes of accidents.
- The GCTP was trained on the root cause analysis matrix (RCAM). It’s a crash investigation tool and is the first time traffic police in the country are being trained with this.
- The tool helps in collecting traffic data from the spot of an accident. The RCAM works on the man, machine, method, and environment (3M&E) model. It’ll help identify the real participating factor in an accident.
Current scenario: Presently, the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) settles cases, which often takes years. Families of victims are asked to visit multiple agencies just to get compensation. In cases where private insurance companies are involved, they might have to wait 10-12 years.
🍲 Feeding the hungry
The city’s food banks work hard to feed kids, the elderly, and the destitute.
What’s it about? There are several NGOs and trusts across the city that ensure people don’t go hungry by distributing meals. One of those is the Chennai Roti Bank. It has been delivering dinners since 2021 to hundreds across Chennai.
- At the Winner’s Bakery in RA Puram, a team assembles meals, and packs and loads them into a van that sets off. Starting at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), it travels to Aynavaram, Chetpet, Chintadripet, Anna Salai, and beyond. The van mostly covers north Chennai.
- Currently, the roti bank delivers meals to 25 trans persons in Chetpet, 150 pavement dwellers near Chepauk stadium, a group of destitute elderly women in Korukkupet, and 300 kids from the police Boys and Girls Club.
The origins: Former police officer Letika Saran noted that research showed many food banks delivered lunch but not dinner. The Chennai Roti Bank was registered as a trust on August 5, 2021. Most of the areas covered are thanks to word of mouth.
♿ Accessibility of Kilambakkam terminus
The access audit for the upcoming terminus hasn’t been completed pending approval for an inspection.
What’s it about? The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has yet to approve the necessary joint inspection with the Directorate for Welfare of Differently-abled (DWD). The audit is needed so that the CMDA can rectify issues in the terminus’ accessibility features.
- Based on what’s known, all the buildings and toilets of the terminus have a 1:12 ratio ramp with two levels of handrail. There are tactile and textured paved surfaces for visually impaired passengers.
- Officials said the lifts have braille markings. There are dedicated wheelchair parking spots near the terminus building. There are also plans to have digital displays and announcements.
Necessary accessibility options: The Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently-abled and Caregivers recently sent a petition to the Chief Minister to ensure the new bus terminus would be accessible for persons with disabilities. They demanded clear and inclusive paths and barrier-free structures to ensure hassle-free movement.
🎨 Showcasing young artistic talent
Chennai will soon host an exhibition showcasing the talents of young artists from across the state.
What’s it about? The exhibition titled Colours of Innocence will display a wide variety of pieces from children between the ages of three and sixteen. The event is conceptualised by self-taught artist Selvakannan Rathinam and presented by SK’s The Lines & Curves and Indian Art Factory.
- For Selvakannan, this event is a way to encourage artists instead of rejecting their work. He has organised three exhibitions with international artists in attendance. This will be his first children’s exhibition.
- More than 60 artists submitted their work for the 2-day exhibition. For several young artists, it’s a way for them to express themselves and showcase different types of art, like oil paintings and charcoal art.
Future plans: Selvakannan wants to organise an art festival in Chennai, like the annual Chitra Santhe festival in Bengaluru.
Details: The Colours Of Innocence exhibition will be open to the public on September 9 and 10 at SK’s The Lines & Curves Art Gallery, Kolathur.
✨ Things to do…
Here are some fun and interesting things to do in the city over the weekend!
- Catch Vijay Antony, prominent singer and music director, live in concert this Saturday.
- Short+Sweet theatre festival is back with numerous experimental short plays this weekend.
- The World Education Fair will help students take their next academic steps with help from international universities this Sunday.
- India Running presents a Chennai half marathon starting at Besant Nagar this Sunday.
- Storyteller Srikumar weaves narratives with his Mundhanai – Storytelling Special this Sunday.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll Results:
- I have gone boating: 70.0% 🏆
- I haven’t gone boating: 30.0%
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
Which Bollywood movie is your favourite?
Suchi: “Zindagi na milegi dubaara”
Shiva: “Lakshya (I own the original CD release)”
That’s it for today. Have a great weekend!