-The Hindu Chennai: In a stinging observation, the Madras High Court on Friday said that the loss due to the recent floods at various places in the State was because of the maladministration in preserving water bodies, waterways and canals. The First Bench made the observation while dismissing a PIL petition filed by Shanmugam, North Chennai secretary of CPI, for a direction to issue pattas to the families who had encroached...

-Economic and Political Weekly Chennai floods show the vulnerabilities that arise from the neglect of urban planning. In the second week of November, flood-marooned people in Chennai had an unlikely Good Samaritan. The cab service provider, Ola. As the city struggled to come to terms with its highest rainfall in 10 years, the cab company pressed in boats from an aquatic adventure outfit and secured the services of professional rowers and fishworkers...

-The Hindu Cyclonic storms on Tamil Nadu’s 1,076-km coastline are not unusual, and at least once in two years there is some disaster or the other. The common thread running through every such instance is that all claims of preparedness are invariably exposed as either hollow or woefully inadequate. The focus, as well as any claim to administrative efficiency, is solely on rescue and relief operations. What the government is able...

-Down to Earth The rate at which informal housing is being destroyed probably far exceeds the rate at which formal housing is being constructed Troubled by the degradation of environment on and around railway tracks, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently directed Delhi government to relocate all illegal settlements along tracks in Delhi. The tribunal reasoned that the residents of these settlements practise open defecation and litter on the tracks. Housing of the...

-PTI New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has been ranked first in ‘Information during travel’ and 2nd in ‘Train cleanliness and comfort’ in an international survey of metro systems conducted by the Railway and Transport Strategic Centre (RTSC). RTSC manages the CoMET and NOVA benchmarking groups of metro networks. The third party online survey was conducted simultaneously in 20 member metro systems of the CoMET and NOVA groups. “The survey...