Amid the din and bustle of MGR Road in Nanganallur is Hema Vidyasankar who has chosen to take the old route. She goes the extra mile to prepare the Deepavali marundhu at home. Thanks to her mother from where the tradition was passed down.
Author: Bhavani Prabhakar
While the Deepavali vibes are already here. The State Fire and Rescue Services officials are pulling up the sock to prevent mishap. This year, however, the fire accidents would be minimum due to the Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board order. According to the notification, residents are allowed to burst crackers between 6 am and 7 am and 7 pm and 8 pm. Firemen in the city welcome the decision as it would reduce the accidents.
Long queues, coins jingling, goodies everywhere. This is Deepavali at the Fourth Main Road market in Nanganallur.
The ever-busy bazaar was bustling with people all over to do the festival purchase and it is the time where people work hard and reap the benefits.
With North East monsoon predicted to lash the city, the neighbourhood received good showers in the last few days. But the grim question lies here. Are we rain-ready? Partially no. While the corporation has desilted the stormwater drains and underway in a few areas, the residents are worried about battered roads and potholes. The local body officials reassure that there would be no repeat of 2015 episode.
Since a long time now, garbage disposal has been a problem for the residents of Zone 12. With Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) practicing door-to-door collection, most of the cans are removed to facilitate the process. Despite doing so, several street corners are littered with all kinds of waste. Although the corporation has time and again emphasised on segregation, little has been done from the scratch.
In a bid to encourage people cycling, Felix John from Chennai, has been elected as the Bicycle Mayor by Amsterdam-based social entreprise BYCS. A happy Felix is charting out ideas to make people embrace and leverage cycling.
In India, studies state that 20 per cent of the child mortality cases are caused due to water-borne diseases – diarrhea and acute respiratory infections (ARI) like pneumonia. Close to 46 per cent households practice open defecation and the rate is up to 80 per cent in a few districts.
The 2019 Swachh Rail, Swachh Bharat ranking that ranks the stations based on several factors and Pazhavanthangal railway station in Chennai occupies the eighth place in the list of unclean stations in India.
The reasons are aplenty and obvious as far as Pazhavanthangal station is concerned. During several instances, residents of the neighbourhood and commuters have raised a range of problems.
Forty-two-year-old Rajarajeswari was just like any other housewife when she got married two decades ago. After having her first child, she began to ponder over utilising her leisure hours. Although she does not have a degree, her husband K R Rajan suggested her to work at a school that teaches differently-abled children. The phase changed her life altogether and soon led her start Sri Vidhyodaya Learning Centre in Mandavelipakkam. The best part is that all her 20 children look forward to attend the school every day with all smiles.