Good morning, Chennai!
☀️ Today’s weather: Sunny weather with clear skies.
🧐 Did you know? Chennai gets its name from a locale named Chennai Pattinam, an area that included the seaport, Fort St. George, and St. Mary’s Church. This section was acquired from a landlord named Chinnappa Naicker.
🏞️ The city of lakes?
The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) wants to make Chennai the city of lakes.
What’s it about? The CMDA is looking to spend ₹100 crore on several lake-front development projects. Officials want to strengthen the city’s blue-green infrastructure and have vibrant recreational public spaces on lakefronts.
- Chennai’s metropolitan area has 320 lakes that provide irrigation and helps in flood accommodation. Civic bodies have identified 10 lakes for the project. Among them are the lakes in Retteri, Madambakkam, Velachery, and Korattur.
- The ecological and hydrological elements of the lakes will be studied with the involvement of local communities. Conservation will include strengthening bunds, increasing their capacity, and plugging sewage inlets.
What do the experts say? Urban planners say the main goal should be to protect the waterbodies and remove encroachments. Others say while beautification is welcome, the primary purpose of the lakes shouldn’t be ignored.
🚍 MTC’s electric shift
The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) will release its plan to shift to electric buses in 2026.
What’s it about? The MTC’s plan comes in the wake of the state government getting clearance for its $400 million grant from the World Bank for urban mobility and spatial development in Chennai. Apart from introducing electric buses, the MTC could also convert some diesel engine buses to CNG.
- Under the first phase of the World Bank-Chennai project, the process of procuring 500 electric buses is underway by the MTC. It has also identified additional parking locations for the new buses.
- The Housing and Urban Affairs ministry suggested the need for more parking spaces which should be planned per the number of buses per lakh of population.
Necessity: NITI Aayog said the state needed to prioritise and incentivise clean fuels for public transport. It also suggested a road safety plan for the city and designing pedestrian-friendly streets.
🎭 Queer expressions
Queer theatre artists come together for an open mic to tell stories.
What’s it about? As part of the 15th Chennai Rainbow Self Respect Pride March, the city-based theatre group Kattiyakkari and the Alt+Art Festival are teaming up to celebrate pride month with an open mic. The event will showcase various performances from queer artists.
- The event will celebrate queer talent with music, storytelling, and workshops. 25-30 artists will perform, including Mangai, Gana Vimala, and Malini Jeevarathnam.
- Srijith Sundaram, a queer activist and founder of Kattiyakkari, said there are no creative restrictions to the performances, and the events are to showcase people’s respect and trust in art.
Details: The Open Mic is on June 11 at Alliance Francaise, Nungambakkam.
🚉 Railway projects progress
A couple of important suburban rail projects are expected to be completed by their deadlines.
What’s it about? The Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) extension to St. Thomas Mount and the fourth Beach-Egmore line could be completed by their deadlines. A consultant will be appointed to check their progress.
- Southern Railway is getting ready to install a viaduct over the tracks at St. Thomas Mount. They’re also progressing along the Egmore line in its most challenging stretch – along the Cooum.
- The firm chosen to monitor the progress will identify errors, recommend changes, and monitor periodic deadlines. The decision was made to ensure projects like these get completed on time since the number of these projects has increased.
Additional project: There’s also the new Chennai-Cuddalore line via Mammallapuram. Work on this hasn’t begun, and the cost has increased to ₹1,200 crore. Allocating funds for this has been slow since the railways haven’t been able to effectively spend the money.
✨ Things to do…
Here are some fun and interesting things to do in the city over the weekend!
- Nithyashree, Bharath, and Anu Anand will perform live music this Sunday.
- Ulaa Pogum Neram from the Indian Choral Ensemble is an immersive acoustic set, happening this Sunday.
- Mangas and the Mango Men present their alternative acoustic rock performance this Saturday.
- Chennai Art Theatre presents the second edition of Spot Light this Saturday.
- A sign language workshop will teach you the basics like alphabets and phrases, happening this Sunday.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll Results:
- I have engaged with the Chennai Corporation over a civic issue: 14.3%
- I’ve never engaged with the Chennai Corporation over a civic issue: 85.7% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What word or phrase would you use to describe the city?
Chitra: “A beautiful confluence of tradition and modernity.”
Kalaiarasi: “Contemporary”
That’s it for today. Have a great weekend!