At four in the morning, the Kasimedu fish market is already abuzz with activity from the first catch of the morning being brought in by small boats and trawlers. The market soon opens to the public and one can get a variety of fresh fish every morning. Fishermen bring in their catch on long, narrow boats which are no more than a couple of planks of wood hammered together. They then proceed to unload the fish and take them to the market place in baskets. The whole area is covered with slime and fins, and the market place is always wet with melted ice. Though the area is part of the Port Trust of India’s property and the fishing activity is informal and relies on old and rudimentary boats and equipment, the fishermen currently supply fish to some of the top hotels in the city.

There is no proper manner in which the discarded fish and fish parts can be disposed in a hygienic way, and it is not unusual to find piles of these left lying to rot for days at a stretch. The area is extremely dirty and unhygienic, and though the fishing communities are able to eke out a daily living, it is obvious that there is much that needs to be done to improve the facilities in order for them to prosper from the activity.

Residents of Royapuram zone, some of whom engage in the fishing activity, are keen to improve the harbour and market area. This is an issue that has come up several times, including in CDF’s Local Economic Environment Planning programme as well as in the initial discussions with residents through Transparent Chennai’s Ward Accountability Experiment. In December 2011, there were media reports saying that the area was going to be developed and the facilities upgraded. However, the more crucial issues will centre on access by fishing communities to the improved facilities and recognition of their rights to continue to live in the area and not be relocated.

Written by Satyarupa Shekhar, researcher at Transparent Chennai. Photographs by Linda Graeble.

This post is the first in the special series of blogposts that Transparent Chennai will be publishing in the coming weeks.  The posts will cover a number of issues ranging from the status of garbage in the city to public sanitation and walkability in ward 176. Written by students from the Asian College of Journalism based on their experiences in the field, these posts will build on the insights gained from Transparent Chennai’s ward accountability experiment.

You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?

‘’I have lived with it for 70 years and I know it will not change, this is what Madras is about’’, said a very agitated senior citizen Mr. Subramanian. He was referring to the pathetic condition of the roads leading to the Besant Nagar Bus Depot. From water logging to rotting garbage, overflowing potholes, broken sidewalks and even traffic congestion – the 1st avenue road flanking the Besant Nagar Bus Depot has it all, every civic problem that cripples walkability.

Pedestrians in India are the most neglected lot. Walkability, a measure of how friendly an area is to walking, is evaluated taking into consideration many subjective factors like: quality of footpaths, sidewalks or other pedestrian right-of-ways, traffic and road conditions, land use patterns, building accessibility, and safety, among others. It is in fact an important concept in sustainable urban design. Unfortunately, Indian cities lack all these factors. A recent survey by the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) said that pedestrian facilities in most Indian cities were lacking and insufficient. A universal concern for all of the cities studied was also the lack of facilities for people with disabilities. Out of a possible 100 points, the average walkability score of the six Indian cities was a 47 (http://thecityfix.com/blog/new-study-indian-cities-score-low-in-walkability-ratings/). But such macro level problems are highlighted, only at the micro level.

The Besant Nagar area is a very famous neighbourhood in Chennai city. And looking at the condition of the roads leading to its only bus depot, the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) should die of shame. The government cannot assume that people don’t walk anymore. Everyone cannot afford cars and bikes. The 1st Avenue road in particular, as it leads to a form of public transport, needs to be in a good condition as people don’t usually go to a bus depot or stand on bike, do they? The ‘so called’ footpaths are used by street vendors to park their trolleys, bicycles and anything and everything else possible. The part where there is nothing, there are broken bricks and shifted tiles filled with water, making it very inaccessible. Not only is there is water clogging on that road, but also garbage bins, overflowing with leftover filth. This deadly combination of stagnant water and dirt is the breeding ground and inception of many diseases.

Commuters — that often include women, students and senior citizens—walking towards the bus stop face a lot of problems. The monsoons have just begun and potholes are massive, housing oodles of dirty rainwater. Water logging is a major issue that hampers walking. The bad maintenance had made the road prone to road mishaps and accidents. There is no zebra crossing, or even if there is one, it is hidden beneath the dirty rain water.  Mr. Ramakrishna, a senior citizen, who has been using the bus depot for over 10 years now said, ‘‘the water logging problem is becoming worse every year and the drainage is very bad. Nobody uses the footpath as nobody knows about it; they should educate people about these facilities.”

The ironic part is that there is a police station bang opposite the road but how much can they do?

Another cause of concern is the presence of a TASMAC outlet in the area (see the map above). The many schools in the vicinity and the students that use the bus depot as a means of daily commute are subject to it’s negative influence.  Also, this increases the vulnerability towards road mishaps. By improving the road environment there will be a positive impact on road safety. The government should identify ‘’black spots’’ or accident prone areas. And on the basis of accident intensity and severity appropriate indicators should be put. The WHO says that Road accidents are the 9th leading cause of death all over the world and are expected to become the 5th by 2030.  And, Tamil Nadu has the 2nd highest road accident rate after New Delhi. Pedestrians and non-motorist are most vulnerable and account to 43% of all fatalities in Chennai. Such alarming statistics and what is our government doing about it?

All these issues trickle down to one main problem of – walkability. In one way or the other, directly or indirectly, water logging, garbage disposal, traffic congestion, public harassment, and potholes affect walkability. The government should make people aware of their rights. A lot of people are not aware of their basic pedestrian rights. Most of them do not even know that footpaths are meant for pedestrians and pedestrians alone. Parking bicycles and putting up stalls on them is an encroachment. Along with all this latest planning, design and other ‘road furniture’ should be used. Such micro level changes will help change India at a macro level. Let’s just hope the government wakes up in time and does the needful. And the question remains: can we walk the talk, our right to walk?

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-  Zahra Khan

I have come across really few studies that attempt to quantify the relationship between water-sanitation and health. This is primarily because testing one in relation to the other, while keeping everything else constant, has proven challenging in the past. How can one clearly tell that the disease caused is a direct or partial result of lack of sanitation? Further, talking about sanitation has been a taboo in most of the third world, and women do not feel comfortable expressing their concerns which has led to less accurate and misleading data. As a result, many studies are able to detect some sort of relationship between sanitation and health, even statistically significant relationships, but the methodologies have often been vague.

This study uses country level data to test – How much does improving access to water and sanitation influence infant, child and maternal mortality? Data for 193 countries was taken from global databases, and results suggest that “access to water and sanitation independently contribute to child and maternal mortality outcomes. If the world is to seriously address the Millennium Development Goals of reducing child and maternal mortality, then improved water and sanitation accesses are key strategies.”

This means that many of the MDGs are related to each other, and we should stop treating problems in isolation of each other. While quantitative analyses are based on a number of assumptions, they assume significance when relationships, correlation, trends and patterns need to be highlighted. I therefore recommend this study to the water and sanitation fraternity across the world.

- Somya

The built heritage of a city narrates its history, the variance in culture that existed and the transition of lifestyles over different periods. It is an exhibit about the past that has survived through generations and over centuries. From an economic perspective it is an inheritance that needs investment in order to reap its rewards. The heritage zones of the city have their unique nature which needs be promoted, protected, conserved and experienced.

A brief history of archaeology and conservation legislations in India

The Portuguese in Goa were the pioneers of archaeology in India which dates back to early 16th century.[1] To start with, the colonial masters brought about the idea of conserving the Rock cut reliefs, the south Indian temples and the remains of the previous masters from the Qutub Minar to the Taj Mahal.

The British had a keen interest in the archaeological wealth of our diverse culture and established the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1861 with Alexander Cunningham[2] as a surveyor. The ASI went through many vicissitudes till the arrival of Lord Curzon in 1899, who was a connoisseur and a keen enthusiast of history. In 1902 the ASI was reconstituted with John Marshal as the first Director General and in 1904 the ‘Ancient Monument Preservation Act’ was passed. In 1906 surveys of hundreds of monuments and sites were declared protected under the act and extensive repairs were undertaken.

In 1921, under the Government of India Act, 1919, archaeology was made a central subject, and the provinces were left merely with the power of declaring monuments and sites protected under the Ancient Monument Preservation Act. The interest was evident with the exploration of Harrappa in 1921 and Mohenjodaro till 1931. In 1932, to encourage outsiders, including the foreigners to undertake exploration, the ‘Ancient Monuments Preservation Act’ was amended. In 1937 even universities like Calcutta, Baroda and Allahabad had played important roles in undertaking archaeological works.

In 1944, Dr. Robert Wheeler the ASI Director General trained and build capacity amongst his staff in modern methods of excavation and conservation. In 1951, under the constitution of India an act was passed to replace the old Ancient Monument Preservation Act of 1932, under which the states were given important role to play in this central subject of archaeology. After several iterations another act Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act 2010 has been passed.

Preserving heritage in Chennai

The listing of heritage buildings in Chennaiwas first made by INTACH which is Asia’s largest voluntary organisation for conserving art and culture. Then in 2003 a separate committee under justice E. Padmanabhan was constituted for identifying and enumerating places of historical importance in and around Chennai. A report was compiled and submitted to the high court in 2006 and draft legislation has been written.A heritage conservation committee has been formed at the CMDA level, but action remains to be taken.

This list comprises of 466 natural and manmade heritages of which three are sadly already demolished.Due to the Chennai Metro rail work the Trevelyan fountain in grounds of the Victoria Public hall has now been removed. The recent fire incidents at Khalsa Mahal and Agurchand Mansion make it evident that much more needs to be done to protect the heritage.

We at Transparent Chennai wish to invite the history and heritage enthusiasts to lend their hands in exploring the heritage of our city. We would like to partner with local groups to start work on the issue of heritage. We will soon be adding a layer of information about it on the site. Are there things that we can do together to increase awareness and encourage people to take action?

Roshan Toshniwal

[1]http://www.indianetzone.com/43/history_archaeology_india.htm

[2]Alexander Cunningham was a military engineer who impressed upon Lord Canning the then Governor General to undertake systematic exploration in the country.

Mark Gorton, founder of several financial and technology companies, was at IFMR’s offices in IIT Madras Research Park recently to talk about his ‘Rethinking the Automobile’ work. Though most of this work is located in New York City, it has implications for almost all cities in the world today. Rethinking the automobile is a movement to recommend policy and functional moves away from using cars and towards more sustainable modes of transportation, including cycling and walking. Many cities in Brazil, China, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, among others, have demonstrated that cycling is not necessarily only a recreational activity but a mode of transportation. All these cities flirted with a car-oriented transportation model before moving to pedestrian-friendly cities. If they can, so can Chennai. Or can it…??

I’m a regular user of the local train in Chennai. Though the commute between Velachery and Indira Nagar is short and comfortable, it is the to and from the station that’s an ordeal. The 300 metre walk from home to the station entails walking on the section of the Velachery-Tambaram Link road that connects Vijay Nagar bus stand to the Velachery MRTS station. This road section is busy since it links the two big public transport hubs, has a flyover that connects Velachery to suburbs like Medavakkam and has a private shared autorickshaws hub exactly at the start of the flyover. Yet it does not have a pedestrian crossing, nor foot over-bridges or subways. Close to the station, the road itself is divided by the flyover and each single lane has two-way vehicular traffic! As if that was not enough, there are no footpaths and pedestrians have to navigate between vendors, piles of garbage and parked vehicles!

The Corporation’s website lists the total length of roads in Chennai with a break-up of roads maintained by the Corporation and Highways department, and the lengths of bus route roads, interior roads and concrete roads, but there is no information about the length and location of pavements in the city, nor where improvement projects are being undertaken. Nithya’s recent blog post showing the ratio of pavements to roads from data obtained through RTIs showed some wards having 3.5 times the length of pavement as roads!! Velachery is in the lowest quartile, which makes me wonder that if money is being allocated and spent on building and maintaining pavements, where are they?

But if you thought only public authorities ignore pedestrians, you’ll be surprised to see that private institutions are equally immune to walkers’ woes. While IFMR provides a shuttle service for those who travel by public transport to its offices in IIT Madras Research Park (IIT MRP), the IIT MRP premises itself are far from being pedestrian-friendly. There is no pavement, cars honk rudely at pedestrians who “slow” them down and the security at the entrance stops only those employees who walk to office, letting those that travel by cars, motorcycles and autorickshaws enter freely!!

There have been reports saying the Chennai Corporation was building five skywalks connecting foot overbridges to “activity centres” and three of these will be in Velachery. I’m sure pavements and pedestrian crossings would be cheaper and pedestrian-friendly, but then, I don’t think these influence spending on public infrastructure in Chennai. At least, not yet.

- Satyarupa Shekhar

Ripon Building – Corporation of Chennai stands elegant, but only insiders can tell you about the drab work life inside this heritage building

My work involves a lot of field visits to the Corporation of Chennai – primarily for data collection, but most often than not, to sit around and wait for hours with the hope that an influential government official would agree to listen to my research findings.

It was during these long waiting hours did I find myself thinking about the work environment at the Corporation.

We work in a fancy office with biometric doors and a beautiful cafeteria, but the list of complaints never ends – “It’s so cold in here that I can’t work today” is something that tops our complaint list. Other recurring complaints are about the lousy music in the elevator and the bad service at the food court. Though the management should be lauded for their attempts at trying to provide us with the most conducive environment for us to deliver our best outputs, we continually choose to get worked up about petty issues that have little or no relevance to our actual work.

On the contrary, the Corporation of Chennai, where the guardians of the city are housed, is in a pitiable condition. Metro construction is on in full swing outside the Ripon Building, and the endless renovation work inside the building has left most office rooms dusty, dirty and dull. Apart from the Commissioners, the Mayor and a few other important officials, nobody has the luxury of even an air conditioner during days of scorching heat and humidity. Fans do not have regulators and power cuts in the afternoon are a common occurrence. They do not have a fancy cafeteria, and the elevator is so inefficient that the slowest of walkers can climb the steps faster. The computer systems are ancient, and no one is well trained to operate it. Stacks of extremely important papers are all over the place and no storage facilities to accommodate any of these. It is just astonishing to see the primitiveness of everything in the building – time stands still there.

Metro Rail digging work under way on the lawns of the Ripon Building  — Photo: R.Ravindran

Why would anybody want to work in such a place? How can we expect the officials to come up with city solutions in an environment that breeds demotivation? I know that my colleagues would definitely not work there. Nor would I, but if I ever do – I would certainly rebel and fret a lot about the lack of infrastructure.

The Chennai Corporation is the oldest in India and the Ripon Building looks magnificent – but only from the outside. The story is not different for other zonal offices in the city –it is in fact worse. Unless and until we upgrade the infrastructure at these offices, the educated tech-savvy youth will never have the incentive to quit their fancy corporate jobs in favour of government jobs, and the less competent ones will continue to work there. It is like a vicious cycle which needs to be broken very soon.

- Somya Sethuraman, lead researcher – Sanitation, Transparent Chennai