Good morning, Chennai!
🌤️ Today’s weather: A little cloudy for today.
🧐 Did you know? The Kishkinta amusement park in the city was one of the first opened in the country in 1995.
🚇 Increasing safety at stations
Metro stations will now have Quick Response Teams to help increase passenger safety.
What’s it about? Starting from February, metro stations in the city will have Quick Response Teams (QRTs). The decision was the result of a survey of 12,000 women commuters to improve safety.
- The QRTs will travel with women passengers in the women-only coaches. The four-month-long survey began in June and looked at several safety measures and parameters to improve the travel experience for women.
- 95% of respondents said the metro was a safe transport option while giving feedback for improvements. Among them were blindspots in stations with limited lighting and CCTV coverage. There have also been several reports of male passengers travelling in the women-only coaches.
Current safety measures: All metro trains have a Passenger Safety Intercom near the doors. Each coach has four such intercoms. This has led to two arrests where a male passenger was detained for harassment.
💡 Switching to solar
The number of grid-connected solar systems in the city increased over the past year.
What’s it about? For many Chennaiites, paying high power bills has become a thing of the past. More people have switched to solar systems for their domestic connections as installed rooftop solar capacity has increased by 36 MW in nine months.
- The number of grid-connected solar systems in Chennai increased from 4,280 in November 2022 to over 6,300 this July. Officials expect this number to increase.
- Applications to install rooftop systems for households on state and national portals have more than doubled from 1,300 last year to 3,600 this July. While some are willing to wait between 2 and 7 months with a subsidy, others apply without and get a connection immediately.
How does it work? With the grid-interactive rooftop solar system, consumers feed power from the solar panels to the grid. They’re compensated for the energy consumed and pay only for what’s consumed beyond the compensated quantity.
🐾 Neglected mobile vet clinics
Mobile veterinary clinics are lying idle as the Centre has not released the funds to operationalise them.
What’s it about? About 250 vans designated as mobile vet clinics are lying idle in a private yard in Poonamallee. The state government has blamed the Centre for not releasing the funds needed to operate them.
- The vehicles were provided under a Centrally-sponsored scheme with assurances of ₹22 crore to operate them in rural areas. They’ve been lying in wait for the past seven months.
- Each vehicle needs ₹1.5 crore to pay for a driver, a veterinarian, an attendant and for medicines and fuel.
What’s the state government doing? The Tamil Nadu government has allocated ₹18.4 crore to operate the vehicles. However, the money can be released only after the Centre releases its allocation.
🎃 Celebrating Halloween
The American Center will host a family-friendly Halloween celebration.
What’s it about? The American Center inside the US Consulate will celebrate Halloween with family-friendly festivities. The popular American holiday includes decorating houses with fun haunted things and carved pumpkins and trick-or-treating for candies and chocolates.
- The festivities will have a DIY trick-or-treat bag-making activity, an escape room adventure, a Halloween-themed movie afternoon, and a storytelling session for kids aged 3 to 9.
- Throughout the day, guests can also 3D print Halloween-themed objects and check out books from The American Center’s library.
Making it family-friendly: Attendees are encouraged to dress up as their favourite characters, and the activities are designed to involve the whole family. It’s a popular holiday that’s not just about all things scary but can help bring a sense of unity and family fun.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Do you prefer short stays or long vacations?
- I prefer short stays.
- I prefer long vacations.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What’s your favourite amusement/theme park you’ve been to?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Traffic on GST Road was congested as people returned to the city after the long weekend.
- Corporation zonal offices have been empowered to tackle monsoon issues with additional money and staff.
- Kattupalli port expansion threatens the livelihoods of surrounding residents.
- Wonderla’s Chennai project has been given the green light for a new amusement park in OMR.
- Tambaram Corporation and residents disagree on the potability of water from the Madambakkam Lake.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I have bought a house/apartment in the city: 0.0%
- I haven’t bought a house/apartment in the city: 100.0% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What’s the best historical site you’ve visited?
Chitra: “Taj Mahal”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!