Good morning, Chennai!
🌤️ Today’s weather: High: 40 ℃ | Low: 29 ℃ | A little cloudy for today.
🧐 Did you know? Khader Nawaz Khan, whom the popular street is named after, was a District Collector in the Revenue Department under the British East India Company.
🥭 Mango season delights
Several city hotels and others have been waiting for mango season to cook up sweet and unique delicacies.
What’s it about? Several mango varieties, like Banganapalli, Alphonso, Neelam, and Rumani, are available across India and in Chennai. As mango season is here, professional and amateur chefs take the opportunity to present unique and creative dishes.
- At the Taj Coramendal, chefs come up with interesting menu items using mango every season. This year, it’s a selection of mango-based beverages, cocktails, and pastries. There’s a balance with protein for those conscious of high sugar levels.
- At the Sheraton Grand Chennai Resort & Spa, Mahabalipuram, the Reef restaurant has been hosting a mango festival. There’s a special mango-themed menu with sweet and savoury dishes.
The Great Mango festival: Hanu Reddy’s Great Mango Festival is a highly-anticipated event every year. This year’s edition will feature a mango-themed breakfast menu by Pushpa’s Kitchen.
🚶 Revamping the city’s streets
The Chennai Corporation plans to decongest busy areas and make them pedestrian-friendly with its Complete Streets Project.
What’s it about? Places like Khader Nawaz Khan (KMK) Road in Nungambakkam and MC Road in Royapuram can be a hassle to wade through. These hubs will be revamped, modernised, and beautified under the Complete Streets Project with pedestrian-friendly amenities like wider and safer footpaths.
- The project, previously called the Chennai Mega Street Project, was announced in 2020 and began with KNK Road six months ago and the MC Road this February.
- Apart from these two, the other stretches are in neighbourhoods including Anna Nagar, Mylapore, Velachery, and Adyar. The project includes two phases – Sustainable Urban Services Programme (SUSP) and Urban Mobility and Spatial Development (UMSD).
Pedestrian plaza response: The positive response to the pedestrian plaza in T Nagar paved the way for the current project. The plaza in the busy shopping area was opened in 2019 after a facelift with wider footpaths, more trees, seating areas, and play spaces.
🥛 An inside job at Aavin parlours
A shortage of milk in some areas has been traced back to employees selling packets in the black market.
What’s it about? Some residents in the western parts of Chennai haven’t been able to buy their usual packet of Aavin milk due to a shortage. This was due to some employees selling packets at inflated prices in the black market. On Saturday, the government suspended three employees.
- The local vigilance team got information about packets being stolen in contract vehicles. Last week, a team stopped three vehicles with over 1,600 litres of extra full-cream Aavin milk.
- For many residents in the western suburbs, their milk supply is haphazard, and they’re forced to buy from retail shops despite paying for Aavin deliveries.
The milk supply situation: At the Kakkalur dairy farm, 83,000 litres of Aavin milk packets are produced and distributed to 31,000 monthly cardholders in the city’s southern suburbs. 52,000 litres are distributed through 22 wholesale vehicles to the public via milk agents.
🚕 Cab hassles at the airport
Passengers are facing issues booking cabs, especially CNG ones, at the airport.
What’s it about? Long delays in booking cabs, especially CNG ones, have left passengers frustrated at the Chennai airport. The CNG cabs have limited trunk space, which results in frequent cancellations and disputes with drivers.
- In the early morning hours, passengers getting off long flights have had to wait over 20 minutes for a suitable cab. Solo passengers sometimes have to book an SUV and pay a higher price.
- Cab drivers say they’re unable to convince passengers to opt for CNG taxis. Ola and Uber are aware of the issues but say they’ve been struggling to recruit drivers, and differentiating cars based on fuel types complicates things.
What can be done? App-based services should allow passengers to choose between regular and CNG cabs when booking to and from the airport. There can also be an option to specify the amount of luggage.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Have you ever bought medicines online?
- I have bought medicines online.
- I haven’t bought medicines online.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What brand of shoes do you prefer?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- A 15-hour liver transplant was successfully completed at the Government General Hospital.
- Illegal hoardings continue to prop up in southern suburbs despite the Corporation’s efforts.
- Meeran Theatres, the new film production house specialising in production and business strategies, was launched in Chennai.
- Metrowater issues an advisory to use water judiciously as borewells dry up.
- 20 km of phase II of the Chennai Metro have been completed with over 90 km to go.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I prefer to watch movies and TV shows with subtitles: 71.4% 🏆
- I prefer to watch movies and TV shows without subtitles: 28.6%
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
Who was your favourite cartoon character growing up?
Suchi: “The Phantom”
Shiva: “Chip and Dale”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!