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Vol. XXXIV No. 12, October 1-15, 2024
Can Chennai learn from Colombo on Flood Management?
-- by Sriram V.
The monsoon is just a month or so away. What was once a welcome feature of Chennai life has become dreaded no matter if it is in excess or in deficit. Of late, what with the setting up of high-energy consuming and potentially environment degrading desalination plants the city seems to have more water than it needs and so it is the flooding that it has come to be apprehensive about. And it is in this context that it perhaps needs to take a leaf out of Colombo’s book. The Sri Lankan capital, if the BBC is to be believed, has taken giant strides in managing its flood risk.
An article by Zinara Rathnayake dated September 21, 2024, on www.bbc.com describes Colombo as it was fifteen years ago. And the similarities to Chennai cannot be more striking. The city, says the author, is built on a network of wetlands, all of which were part and parcel of people’s lives. They fished there and used the water for cultivation. As the city grew in the 1920s, people began acquiring the wetlands, draining them, and building houses. This led to flooding and to contain the new menace, the British set up a flood management system involving a chain of canals. All went well as long as the canals were clean but when they choked up in recent years, the city began to flood again. To compound problems, the Government considered the wetlands ideal spaces for dumping garbage and mountains of waste began to appear. One of these collapsed in 2017, killing 32 people. The civil war saw displaced people being housed on the wetlands. All of this led to one of the worst floods in 2010, which submerged Parliament as well for good measure.
Since 2016 however, there has been a change. In a very conscious effort to recognise the importance of wetlands, the Government
SWD damage, pedestrian woes and more – Chennai Metro Rail Project needs better planning
-- by Varsha V.
The Chennai Metro Rail project has certainly made its presence felt, and its not all sunshine and roses. There’s no doubt that public works are owed the people’s support in putting up with short-term inconveniences – for instance, traffic diversions are to be expected as part of establishing new metro rail operations – but a slew of media reports these past few months have given cause to wonder whether the project could have been planned better.
For instance, news emerged in August that the metro rail construction works have damaged storm water drain networks in multiple parts of the city. The findings were part of a five-member joint study conducted by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), IIT Madras, Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC) and the disaster management department. A report in the Times of India carried the details of the study – the storm water drains at Barnaby Road,
Heritage Watch: Early Views of Loyola College
Elsewhere in this issue we have a full-length feature on Loyola College on the occasion of its centenary. We also showcase here four photos of the college campus shortly after its inauguration. These have been sourced from the book 150 Years of Excellence, a Pictorial History of the University of Madras, published in 2007.
Why don’t they?
-- by Sabitha Radhakrishna
The walking stick is a device that is used mainly to assist walking, and to provide postural stability. The hold portion had a defining curve, and the stick had a consistent thickness to the very end. It was called a cane, because originally it was made of cane, then wood, and then the handle portion became a little more ornate while still retaining the curve. Easy to hook on to the back of a chair, while you sat, lost in conversation. The designs served as a fashion accessory, during the 18th and 19th century, and I remember my father who really did not need a walking stick used it with a swagger. The canes were crafted from wood, ivory and even silver and had intricate carvings on the edge of the handle,
Loyola College turns hundred
Article by Dr. Bernard D. Sami, Retd. Professor, Loyola College
Loyola College, Chennai, commemorated its centenary during the academic year 2024-25. The college has followed the triple mantra of Expansion, Inclusion, and Excellence for the last hundred years. It grew from three undergraduate courses with 75 students in 1925 to 24 UG and 21 PG courses at present. Fifteen disciplines offer full-time and part-time Ph.D. programmes. More than 450 faculty members are working, and the number of students has gone up to 10,000. This is the only college that figures in all three categories – Arts, Science, and Commerce in the ranking by India Today’s Top Ten Colleges in India. The NIRF Ranking
