Latest news with #J.John
The Hindu
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Don't stop at potholes: Chennai residents pitch ideas for the Namma Salai app
As the State government has started exploring the feasibility of building an app for roads of all local bodies across the State, residents of Chennai Corporation have demanded a comprehensive list of civic issues to be addressed in the App instead of merely focusing on potholes. president of the Federation of North Chennai Residents' Welfare Associations, said the Namma Salai app should not merely focus on potholes, and instead resolve all civic issues pertaining to roads, including flood mitigation, street furniture, encroachment, and road traffic accidents caused by road design. 'The residents who intend to use the App for resolving civic issues of roads should be able to access comprehensive information about all the roads. For instance, the residents do not know the actual dimensions of the road, encroachment, or date of relaying of the road. We want to know whether the App will also provide such information for better transparency while residents try to post a photo of civic issues. Many narrow roads in north Chennai have the issue of flooding because the roads follow the undulations without proper design,' he said. Ward 84 councillor said most of the civic issues of roads are not resolved because of lack of transparency about the status of work on a road or the list of work completed in a stretch by various agencies. 'The civic officials launched four different projects on roads last year. The contractors who are supposed to do the work said the work in the package has been done in other roads of Assembly constituencies of important leaders. Will the App address such civic issues?' he said. Former Anna University professor of urban engineering said: 'Namma Salai App may include the following issues for the public to address-road design factors: inadequate width to carry the traffic, unevenness, light reflecting road surface, storm water drain problem, skidding of two wheelers, frequent accidents, footpaths, broken medians, lack of bus bays, sharp curves and consequent poor visibility to drivers, frequent road cuttings.' Pointing to the rise of traffic issues on city roads, he stressed the need for inclusion of complaints about traffic problems, traffic management- one ways, U Turns, restraining right turns, defective signals, invisible road marking, lack of sign boards, lack of pedestrian crossings, non-synchronisaton of signals, unannounced road diversions, poor traffic enforcement- over speeding, overloading, riding on the wrong direction, lack of transparency and coordination, indiscriminate parking, encroachments, and noise and air pollution.
The Hindu
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
GCC schools grapple with lack of classrooms, basic infrastructure, teachers
Councillors say many schools run by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) continue to function without adequate number of classrooms and teachers, and lack of basic infrastructure. 'For want of classrooms, teachers at the primary school in Tiruvottiyur conduct classes in a nearby community hall, which is about 500 metres away every day. Requests for more classrooms were made at council meetings for over two years, but no action has been taken,' said AIADMK Councillor K. Karthik. As on June 2, the GCC schools recorded 16,497 new admissions from Classes I to XII for the academic year 2025-2026. The admission process will continue till September, and the new admission count is expected to exceed last year's (32,004), according to Education Department officials. Though the civic body manages 417 schools across the city, it has only 3,146 teachers and 316 headmasters or headmistresses, according to data from the GCC. As of June 2025, 1,152 teaching and administrative posts remain vacant. AIADMK Councillor J. John said the GCC school in Korattur was upgraded to a higher secondary school a decade ago, yet it lacks many facilities. The school has six labs for physics, chemistry and computer, but four of these are planned to be used as classrooms. 'Sometimes, two different classes are held in the same room with a wooden partition in between, owing to lack of space,' he said. Further, there is no seating facility for middle and primary classes, forcing children to sit on the floor, he said. He added that seven of the twelve vacancies at the school were filled through the School Management Committee; however, teachers for Tamil and Physical Training had not been appointed. 'Regional Deputy Commissioner Praveen Kumar K.J. visited the school and directed local authorities to accelerate the construction of new classrooms. Unfortunately, only an estimate is currently being prepared,' he said. MDMK Councillor S. Jeevan said the corporation high school in Kannagi Nagar needed three Tamil teachers, five science teachers, one mathematics teacher, three history teachers, a lab technician for computer classes, and a permanent physical education teacher. DMK Councillor A. Murugesan, during the Council meeting on June 30, flagged the lack of benches in the GCC Primary School. Mayor R. Priya said classrooms in need of furniture would be identified, and the issue addressed. P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary of the State Platform for Common School System – Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN), said GCC schools remained the only accessible option for children of daily wage workers. 'Chennai Schools lack permanent sanitation workers, English language and physical education teachers, and watchmen, forcing students to opt for private schools. This issue persists despite the GCC having sufficient funds. Moreover, there is a lack of planning and proper consultation with stakeholders before implementation of schemes,' he said. He added that failure to provide basic amenities could amount to violation of Article 21 (Right to Life) and Article 14 (Right to Equality) of the Constitution, and called for immediate corrective measures through public consultation. Deputy Mayor M. Magesh Kumaar said that ₹40 crore had been allocated to improve school infrastructure. Regarding teacher vacancies, he said State authorities had been notified of the need for additional teachers, and the Teacher Recruitment Board was expected to deploy more staff by this month-end. He also said that benches and tables had been ordered from the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited. In case of urgency, the councillors could use the ward development fund to acquire the furniture themselves, he said.
The Hindu
06-06-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Residents stop road work in Korattur, demand civic agencies fix sewage issues
In a bid to prevent overflow of sewage on the roads, residents in various wards have demanded GCC to identify land for construction of sewage pumping stations by CMWSSB, expedite the ongoing work, improve sewage treatment infrastructure and prevent frequent burst of sewer pipelines. After GCC officials started milling work of Korattur Station Road this week, residents stopped the road relaying work, demanding officials to resolve the issue of overflow of sewage on the road before relaying the road. AIADMK councillor said the sewage pipeline burst ten times in the past few months on Station Road leading to overflow of sewage. 'Residents have requested measures to resolve the issue of sewage pipelines bursting at frequent intervals. The residents want diversion of sewage pumping to Kodungaiyur Treatment Plant instead of Koyambedu Treatment Plant or an improvement in pumping stations. If the GCC relayed the road without resolving the issue, they will have to cut the road again in a few days to resolve the sewage issue,' he said. MDMK councillor said the residents have complained about overflow of sewage, causing public health issues for children of Karimedu Colony, First Street, Residents of ward 55 have complained on social media that the sewage was overflowing on Mangammal Street, polluting the storm water drain of Chennai Corporation. president of the Federation of North Chennai Residents' Welfare Accociations, said the added zones of north Chennai need more sewage pumping stations and facilities for treatment of sewage and improved septage management. 'We do not have sewage pumping stations in many neighbourhoods in zones such as Madhavaram, Manali, Tiruvottiyur. Under Vada Chennai Valarchi Thittam, we are expecting new sewage pumping stations at 80 locations. Residents of north Chennai were invited to visit a new pumping station in Kolathur a few months ago in Venus Nagar in ward 65. It was said to be constructed using better technology from Germany to prevent the characteristic odour of sewage. Residents need better sewage pumping stations and scientific treatment of sewage to prevent pollution of the city,' he said. Residents have pointed to a delay in construction of sewage pumping stations in areas such as Ayanavaram, Kottivakkam and Vadaperumbakkam, stressing the need for identifying suitable GCC land, for the CMWSSB to construct sewage pumping stations with a reliable technology to prevent pollution of the waterways and take measures to prevent the characteristic odour of the sewage pumping stations in residential areas.
