Good morning, Chennai!
🌧️ Today’s weather: High: 28 ℃ | Low: 22 ℃ | Mostly cloudy and with a chance of some rain.
🧐 Did you know? The Evening Bazaar Road was where makeshift markets came up every evening. It came to be known as Thieving Bazaar since stolen goods were regularly on sale.
📅 Special calendar
The Art Brew Creative Company’s SOL 2025 calendar documents one Tamil word for each month.
What’s it about? The Chennai-based creative studio’s SOL 2025 calendar documents one Tamil word for each month with a small description. The idea was to preserve and sustain the Tamil language and culture. The theme for SOL 2025 is Whispers from the Garden.
- Among the words printed in this calendar’s third edition are “Thalam”, meaning calmness for February and “Thulir”, meaning sprout for March. The words printed also have an English description.
- The words are handpicked by writer and lyricist Madan Karky. The sketches are hand-designed and translated into digital media by the company’s illustration team.
About the company: The Art Brew Creative Company specialises in telling cultural stories through a contemporary lens. They work with small and big brands to strike a balance between modernism and traditional designs.
🛍️ Fish vendors oppose Loop Road project
Families of fisherfolk on Loop Road oppose the Chennai Corporation’s redevelopment project.
What’s it about? The Chennai Corporation has proposed a plan to redevelop Loop Road near Marina Beach. However, the families of fisherfolk, for whom this area is a prime sales location, are unhappy with the plan. They want the government to provide small shops since sales have decreased after they’ve moved to a new facility.
- The vendors were asked to leave once the road was relaid. They relocated near the place where their boats and nets were. Since they’ve been moved to a new purpose-built facility, sales have taken a hit.
- Last year, through the Mayilai Nochikuppam Fishermen’s Village Council, vendors demanded that coastal areas from Nochikuppam to Srinivasapuram be declared a protected fishing zone. Several local politicians supported their demand.
No action taken: Some vendors alleged that many stalls were allocated to those with political connections. Despite voicing their concerns, the authorities have taken no action and haven’t provided them with small shops 15 feet from the Loop Road under the 2015 Roadside Protection Act.
🏭 Mitigate air pollution
The Chennai Corporation has initiated a pilot programme to tackle air pollution in Chennai’s industrial areas.
What’s it about? The civic body wants to tackle air pollution across Chennai’s industrial areas. As a pilot, it placed monitoring devices to measure air quality at two locations in Manali with high footfalls.
- After the readings are studied and analysed, air purification systems will be installed by the end of January. If the pilot is successful, it will be replicated in other zones.
- The air purification machines are designed to intake polluted air and filter out contaminants like nitrogen and sulphur oxides and particulate matter (PM2.5). The purified air is released back into the environment.
Why Manali? Manali is an important industrial zone in the city with heavy industries like oil refineries, chemical and fertiliser units, and power generation facilities.
🚇 Delays in track laying
The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) sent a notice to a contractor over delays in track-laying work.
What’s it about? CMRL issued a show-cause notice to a contractor for delays in laying tracks along the Poonamallee to Porur stretch of corridor 4. Work along the 26.1 km Light House to Poonamallee line has been progressing for a few years.
- There have been repeated delays in the track laying along this stretch. Following meetings and inspections to get to the bottom of it, a show-cause notice was issued to the contractor.
- Work has been completed only on 9 km. The contractor promised to speed up the work and complete it as soon as possible. The initial issues included getting enough workers and finalising a good sub-contractor.
Repeated delays: In March, the CMRL faced similar delays and sent a show-cause notice to the contractor. While work gained momentum, setbacks once again emerged.
✨ Things to do…
Here are some fun and interesting things to do in the city over the weekend!
- Music lovers, be sure to catch Armaan Malik’s live concert this Sunday.
- Big Bang Theory fans, test your knowledge of the show at the Big Bang Theory trivia showdown this Saturday.
- Put your running shoes on for a good cause at the Modern Madras Marathon this Sunday.
- Experience classical dance performances at the 5th edition of the Dance for Dance Festival this weekend.
- Showcase your talents at the House of T’s Open Mic Night this Saturday.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll Results:
- I think remote work is more productive than office work: 66.7% 🏆
- I don’t think remote work is more productive than office work: 33.3%
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
How many times a week do you use quick commerce apps like Zepto or Instamart?
Suchi: “Twice or thrice a week”
Chandru: “Zero”
That’s it for today. Have a great weekend!