Good morning, Chennai!
☀️ Today’s weather: Sunny weather for the day.
🧐 Did you know? The flagstaff at Fort St. George is believed to be one of India’s tallest. It rises 148 feet high and originally belonged to the mast of a ship and is made from one long piece of teakwood.
🏙️ Chennai’s low Green Index
The city’s green index is below WHO’s standards for healthy living.
What’s it about? There’s a possibility that the rising heat is linked to the city’s reduced green cover over the years. Per the World Health Organisation (WHO), the green space per capita should be 9.5 sq metres per person. According to the Corporation’s draft City Climate Action Plan, it’s 8.75.
- Urban green infrastructure is an important element in determining the quality of life and a framework for a sustainable city. In Chennai, higher temperatures are recorded in areas with lower vegetation and waterbodies.
- The city’s built-up area has increased from 102 sq km to 295 sq km from 1991 to 2021. Vegetation cover has reduced during this time from 23% to 17%. The area of waterbodies has also declined from 8% to 4%.
Effect and solutions: The impact is most felt by urban poor communities since they live in poorly developed areas. For example, 27% of the city’s slum houses use asbestos for roofing which heats up faster than cement roofs. There’s also limited access to fresh water for many.
- The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority has teamed up with The Nature Conservancy India to implement the ‘Greenprint for Chennai’ under the Third Master Plan.
🚇 Pay more for Metro parking
Non-commuters using metro stations to park their vehicles will need to pay up.
What’s it about? Starting June 14, those who use the metro stations to park their vehicles but don’t take the metro will need to pay more for parking. The new tariff regime will see non-commuters pay double compared to passengers.
- Regular commuters complained that they weren’t able to find parking spots at the stations during peak hours. It resulted in a loss in revenue since people were dissuaded from using the service due to a lack of parking.
- Non-commuters will pay ₹20-40 for bikes and ₹30-60 for cars during service hours. They’ll also have to shell out much more for monthly passes.
Strategy: Metro officials want to prioritise regular commuters and encourage more people to travel via the metro after parking their vehicles. Officials hope a new tariff structure will discourage non-commuters and persuade new passengers.
🚯 Monitoring water body pollution
The Chennai Corporation will increase monitoring and impose penalties on violators.
What’s it about? Corporation Commissioner J Radhakrishnan announced that the local body will increase its monitoring efforts and impose penalties to tackle the pressing issue of water bodies polluted with garbage. He said the Corporation has challenges since people dump garbage shortly after a water body is cleaned.
- The Corporation maintains at least 33 canals, including the ones at Mambalam, Mylapore, and Nadambakkam. The commissioner said people dump garbage 48 hours after they clean a water body.
- Over the past month, the Corporation has collected ₹11 lakh worth of fines and ₹9 lakh for dumping waste in public areas.
Preparing for the monsoon: During the monsoon, garbage in water bodies piles up, leading to blockages and overflow of water. The Corporation also hopes to complete stormwater drain work across Chennai by August.
🎓 Demo Day for JEE aspirants
IIT Madras will host a demo day for JEE aspirants on June 24.
What’s it about? The demo day will be for parents and students. They can visit the campus and interact with current students, faculty, and IIT Madras alumni. There’ll also be a few demo lectures students can attend.
- The forum is an opportunity for parents and aspirants to know more about academics, placements, safety, etc. There used to be similar in-person counselling that was stopped in 2010 when it went online.
- The demo day is part of the AskIITM initiative from the alumni. Aspirants can ask questions on askiitm.com about courses and campus life.
Details: For the aspirants’ benefit, the website has video answers to most queries received last year. There’s also a separate microsite for placement-related questions with data from the current graduating batch.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Is there a Metro station in your locality?
- Yes, there is a Metro station in my locality.
- No, there isn’t a Metro station in my locality.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What historical/heritage site would you like to visit in the city?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Chennai may host one of the cricket World Cup semifinals this October.
- 182 trees will be cut along Periyar EVR Salai for the Egmore station redevelopment project.
- Guindy Children’s Park will be closed for six months for a ₹20 crore renovation project.
- Lalitha Natarajan, a Chennai-based lawyer-activist, was awarded the 2023 Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labour.
- Chennai-based Rhapsody was awarded the McNulty Grant for empowering communities.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I live in a residential apartment: 60.0% 🏆
- I live in a private house: 40.0%
That’s it for today. Have a great day!