Urban News

The Hindu 10.09.2009

Corporation to ban incandescent lamps

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: As part of its efforts to reduce global warming, the Chennai Corporation will implement a ban on the use of incandescent lamps in all its buildings.

Mayor M. Subramanian announced this after British High Commissioner Richard Stagg met him and sought the civic body’s collaboration in preparing a roadmap for low carbon development pathway for the city.

The Mayor said that four lakh red and green bins had been distributed among residents of slums for source segregation of garbage.

The civic body would conduct a competition among its offices and give awards to those that are successful in reducing power consumption.

Planting saplings

He said the civic body had planted around 10,000 saplings every year.

Mr. Stagg said that with its attractive plan to reduce impact on climate change,

India could pay a major role in the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change in December by explaining to the world what it is doing.

The country’s per capita emissions were less than two tonnes, as against 10 tonnes in Europe and 24 tonnes in the U.S.

The U.K. was very clear that the developed world should share the bulk of the burden so that India can ensure the economic growth developed economies enjoyed in the past.

Fergus Auld, First Secretary, Climate Change and Energy at the British High Commission, New Delhi, said that ICLEI, a membership association of local governments for sustainability, was working with more than 40 cities from India in addressing climate change.

The project has completed detailed energy and carbon emission inventory for all the participating cities and identified sectors where respective Municipal Corporations can take lead.

Participating civic bodies have identified action plans to reduce energy consumption in municipal services and its operations, he said.

The Hindu 10.09.2009

Night shelter project for street children

Staff Reporter

— Photo: V.Ganesan

WITH CARE: Mayor M.Subramanian (right) interacts with street children at the launch of the project to provide night shelter for them in Chennai on Tuesday.

CHENNAI: Surya dropped out of school after he failed in Standard IX. One of the street children and displaying anger in his body language, he says, “I do not want to study at all.”

Many children such as Surya are rag-pickers in the dump yards of Chennai including Kodungaiyur and Perungudi.

In order to help children like him cope with the challenges of modern life in the city, the Chennai Corporation on Tuesday launched a project to provide night shelter for street children. Inaugurating the first such shelter in Kodungaiyur, Mr. Subramanian said, “Providing night shelter for street children is part of our initiative of making arrangements to prevent their abuse, neglect and exploitation.”

This is the first such initiative by a civic body in the country, Mr. Subramanian said. The civic body has also identified 824 child labourers and admitted them in various Corporation schools, he said. Their parents have been imparted training for proper employment and loans have been given to improve their economic conditions, he said.

Mr. Subramanian urged residents to report any abuse of street children to the Corporation officials in order to admit them in the night shelter.

Street children are deprived of family care and adult supervision at the night shelter would reduce the degree of abuse, said A. Alexander, supervisor of the project. Most children on the streets are in the 5-17 age group and engaged in some kind of economic activity including rag-picking.

R. Isabel, executive secretary of Madras Christian Council of Social Service, said the street children earn Rs.200 a day, selling materials collected by rummaging the dump yard.

They make money but their health is at stake and their developmental as a human being is affected making them misfits in the society, she says.

Childline, 1098, gets around 2,000 calls reporting various types of abuse and exploitation of children in Chennai every month.