MM XXVIII No. 14.Pmd

Registered with the Reg. No. TN/CH(C)/374/18-20 Registrar of Newspapers Licenced to post without prepayment for India under R.N.I. 53640/91 Licence No. TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-506/18-20 Publication: 1st & 16th of every month Rs. 5 per copy (Annual Subscription: Rs. 100/-) INSIDE G Short ‘N’ Snappy G Connemara restored G Best bird sanctuary G Tamil magazines G The TNPL winners WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI Vol. XXVIII No. 14 November 1-15, 2018 A nod or two for restoration (by The Associate Editor) t is not often that we at Madras Musings have occasion to celebrate when it comes Ito heritage. Most of our stories are gloom and doom, chiefly documenting official apathy and wilful neglect that results in various grandiose edifices biting the dust. But in this festive season, we do have a reason to rejoice. We, a few days ago, saw the low profile restoration of the Second World War shelter that had for long The Connemara Hotel, Madras’s oldest and now the Taj Connemara, celebrates a 2-year restoration (see page 5). remained neglected by the seashore at Kasimedu. This marked the culmination of some concerted action by several agencies and we are glad to report that Madras Musings too played a role in it. The concrete air-raid shelter, also known as the pillbox owing to its design, was one of several put up all along the seacoast by the administration of Sir Arthur Hope, during the first three years of the WWII. Weighing several hundred tonnes, it was probably cast in-situ and apart from its massive walls, it also has evidences of metal plating on the inside. Narrow windows provide a lookout and also enable the positioning of anti-aircraft guns. Records on these shelters are non-existent today and, indeed, there is no proof of ownership either. The last named was a bane and a boon, when it came to the recent restoration of this particular shelter, the last survivor of its kind. It had remained neglected for years and served among other things as a dwelling, a public convenience and a rubbish dump. It would have gone on that way, hardly noticed by passersby had it not been for it lying plumb in the middle of the route for a proposed pipeline of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). That necessi- tated bringing down the shelter and demolition work began in October 2017. That was when Madras Musings was alerted about this and carried an article in its issue The pillbox in Kasimedu after restoration by the Indian Oil Corporation. But note the litter dated December 16, 2017. The Hindu, one of the supporters of Madras Musings, already around it. (Pictures by R. Raja Pandiyan.) followed up and the city news quality of life? desk published a detailed story. When the area was expanded That got the IOCL interested to 1,189 sq.km, Government rea- and they willingly suspended Are conditions for ‘Ease of Living’ soned that a large area was the demolition. needed to find the best possible The Corporation of Chennai location for employment, afford- was kind enough to offer its healthy practice is in place poor in State? survey shows that most things able housing and relocation of services for shifting the struc- Aover the last three years or are bad in most places and most slums and developing connecti- ture to the Museum if the latter so to measure the efficacy of things in most places must be scores are assigned and aggre- out of a field of 111. The overall vity. This was primarily to be was willing to host it and, more public services in terms of out- improved. Didn’t we know this gated to rank cities for perfor- score is set against a maximum achieved by creating satellite importantly, if the owner of the comes. The latest one in the already? mance. of 100 and Chennai scores towns and peripheral ring roads. shelter had no objection. A series is the Ease of Living Index Often physical data, in terms On a prima facie reading of 47.24. This is not a high score. Of five proposed towns, only scramble began on establishing at the initiative of the Ministry of numbers, reflect a good pic- scores/ranks, Tamil Nadu’s per- Pune is declared the best city for two – Manali and Maraimalai ownership over the bunker. of Housing and Urban Affairs, ture while actual experience of formance is as follows. No ease of living, but with a score Nagar – were accomplished. This The ASI and the Army had no of the Central Government. beneficiaries turns out to be of only 58.11. It is a sad has not been adequate to arrest records. Strictly speaking, the The survey, commenced in disappointing because of poor commentary that for Ease of the rising overcrowding in structure was poromboke, for it January 2018, is a bit too early delivery. The outcome must, G by A Special Living in the country the best Chennai city. The object of stood on public land and to test the status of Ease of therefore, be evaluated by Correspondent score is only 58. This means making housing in suburbs an nobody had a claim over it. The Living when governments are direct access to a large enough that the country, as a whole, is attractive option has not been IOCL then offered to retain the still grappling with this problem sample of beneficiaries to deter- not doing well for Ease of realised. Reports from residents shelter at site and, what’s more, of many ramifications. mine whether numerical Living. Chennai can console in outlying areas indicate that decided to repair whatever The survey covers 111 cities Tamil Nadu city has made it to compliance matches beneficiary the top ten out of the 111 cities itself by claiming that its score local roads have not been put in damage had been done by way in the country, the evaluation satisfaction. This part of the assessed. Among the first 50 of 47.24 is as high as 81% of the place nor has the supply of of demolition. based on four pillars, as they are evaluation is important to know best performer! Another doubt- serviced land for middle and This was soon attended to, called, namely, institutional, cities ranked, 12 Tamil Nadu the “real” situation and must be social, economic and physical cities have come in, but that ful consolation is that Chennai highlighted in future reports. the quick action being possible is Number 2 in position among chiefly because there were no facilities. Under this main may not be saying much. Only The survey, being in the Tiruchirappalli and Chennai larger cities with over 4 million conflicting Government depart- classification there are 15 early stages, suffers from inad- parameters and 78 indicators. are in ranks 12 and 14 respec- population, below Greater equate data. Some of the Based on data received for these tively, which is some consola- Mumbai at number 1 with a (Continued on page 2) main and sub-main parameters tion, ranking within the first 15 score of as low as 57.78. The (Continued on page 2) CMYK 2 MADRAS MUSINGS November 1-15, 2018 ‘EASE OF LIVING’ IN TAMIL NADU Rain, rain, where art thou? (Continued from page 1) water supply, waste water man- he Man from Madras and babies were rocked to sleep may, the smell-free inspection agement, solid waste manage- T Musings looks out via the – all very domestic and a scene does open up possibilities. Per- respondent cities were unpre- ment and reduced pollution. window even as he types this. that MMM did not complain haps there are agencies that of- pared to provide the necessary Some of these are the focus of In the sky above, there is not a about. But he did have second fer personnel who are free important initiatives like cloud and yet this was the date thoughts when the workers, from BO. data. Those who did not give that the weathermen/women and babies used the garden as ‘IF YOU NEED GOOD data, penalised by zero mark, AMRUT (Atal Mission for had given out for the arrival of an open toilet as well. In these FRIEND IN YOUR AREA are losing in the race. It is quite Rejuvenation and Urban the monsoon. The rains have days of Swacch Bharath, CALL ME OR WHATS UP probable that good performers, Transformation) which covers tricked the Met Office twice MMM can only hope the ME’ ran a second one. It made who did not have data to water, sewerage, stormwater over – the first time in mid women found some toilet to MMM wonder as to how the provide, have been relegated as drainage, public transport and October when the combina- use. The offer to use a servant’s sender knew the area where poor performers in the findings. amenities, the Smart Cities tion of two cyclones, one on toilet in the house did not meet MMM lived. Also, the sender Delhi ranks 65 because of its Mission with covering redevel- the east coast and the other on with encouraging response. must be a really gregarious failure to provide data. Delhi’s opment, green-field develop- the west was cited as enough These are people who prefer person, if friends could be ments and pan-city application reason for an early onset of the the wide open spaces. rustled up from any area and rank would, arithmetically, monsoon, and the second be- At the end of the day, three for any area.

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