MM XXVII No. Layout File 6-8.Pmd
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Registered with the Reg. No. TN/CH(C)/374/15-17 Registrar of Newspapers Licenced to post without prepayment for India under R.N.I. 53640/91 Licence No. TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-506/15-17 Publication: 15th & 28th of every month Rs. 5 per copy (Annual Subscription: Rs. 100/-) WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI INSIDE • Short ‘N’ Snappy • The vanished avenuesuseum • Pelathope Days • A 3-fold commitment • The Ambattur IE story Vol. XXVII No. 5 MUSINGS June 16-30, 2017 A disaster waiting A very (by The Editor) then shopping as an activity rare may have to be abandoned t was only a couple of issues altogether in our city. ago that we had written about to happen I The fire raged for two days. the rot in Chennai’s real estate. Given the way the building was visitor One of the instances quoted struction violations and the meant bending all the rules, and constructed, fire tenders could was a fire in a wholly unautho- above-mentioned structure was a vast horde of shoppers who hardly reach it. Those in the ne late morning, a year rised structure that continued no exception. Permission had kept the place going, not in the neighbourhood had to be sum- Oago, my friend Santha- to remain in occupation despite been granted for just four floors, least bothered that the place marily evicted for no fault of raman rang up to say he had the authorities sealing it. That but the management had mer- had come up in contravention theirs beyond the fact that they sighted a Brahminy kite – Halia- incident claimed four lives. The rily added another four. An ad- of all ethics – all of them en- chose to live next to a partially stur indus – in the skies of Anna latest episode, though fortu- ministration that either did not sured that no action was ever illegal edifice. Commuters were Salai. But I did not take it seri- nately not causing any deaths, care, or was in cahoots with the taken. In this lot, it is perhaps put to enormous hardship ow- ously because it had been years was on a far bigger scale. We al- violators, a judiciary that took the shopper who is to be for- ing to blockage of traffic and the since a Brahminy kite was lude to the fire in a multistoried its own time to come to any given, for if he/she is to take the smoke caused distress to many sighted in Chennai. I assumed garment showroom in T’Nagar. conclusive judgement, an stance of shopping only in in the area. Over 700 house- that he must have mistaken a This is an area that has owner who was only interested buildings that are put up in holds in T’Nagar were starved Black kite for a Brahminy kite. become a showpiece for con- in making money even if it strict conformance of the law, of water and close to six lakh Nevertheless, he was confident. litres of this precious commod- I was even more surprised when ity were spent on dousing the he informed me that the kite G GARBAGE inferno. The only saving grace, carried nesting material as well. as mentioned earlier, was that I had no grounds to believe him. nobody died, though some A couple of months ago he HowHow aboutabout wewe citizenscitizens people, especially those in the called again to say he had fire service, did suffer injuries. sighted the bird in the same area The fire broke out early in the with some nesting material. morning and so there were no This time I took him seriously doingdoing ourour bit?bit? and agreed to take a look. doingdoing ourour bit?bit? shoppers and traffic on the road Around 6.30 am we reached ontinuing from last fort- Clothes and other fancy articles was also thin. G the spot and scanned the skies. night, when the focus was by A Special purchased by us are given by The aftermath saw the usual C Blue rock pigeons and house on our low sanitary rating, I to- stores in large, colourful bags so blame game being played out. Correspondent crows dominated the scene. As day look at a major contribut- that when we carry them the The Minister blamed the owner the sun ascended, a few Rose- ing factor: Garbage, which daily brand gets advertised. But their for violations. The owner ad- ringed parakeets were seen. overflows on to our streets. Plastic packing material disposal becomes a problem. mitted that his structure was in Then we saw a few Black kites. It cannot be anyone’s case forms a bulk of the material that Perhaps, sellers as a matter of contravention of permits, but We then drove to the Ethiraj that the ubiquitous piles of gar- we throw out. Shunning plastic civic duty can make the bags blamed it on bad advisors. The Salai as it was near the Cooum bage are entirely the responsi- bags might by itself substantially simpler and smaller and less of a electricity and water supply de- River. We thought we might bility of the municipal conser- reduce the volume of garbage. disposal problem. Buyers should partments blamed the courts have a better chance of seeing vancy agencies. Be it garbage or Then, collection could do with decline bags difficult to dispose. that had granted stay orders the bird there as Brahminy kites sewage, at one end is the public smaller-sized receptacles and Newspapers have been con- against sealing the structure live mainly in coastal regions, agency that has responsibility to more number of them to ensure verted into carry bags. So why thereby forcing the depart- estuaries, mangroves, and wet- manage and deal with them; that no bin is outside easy not we start using them instead ments to supply power and lands, though we knew that but it is at the source that much reach. Recycling and re-use of of plastic? water to this edifice. The courts Cooum does not support any could be achieved to reduce the various articles and packing Enhancing the capacity of have not spoken, but if they did, fish. Time moved on. It was volume of waste generation and materials and thinking many the public collection and dis- we are sure they would blame around 10 am and we returned to facilitate easier handling of times before throwing them posal system is not enough to the committee of the Chennai to our original spot. We saw a the load transferred to the pub- away would also help reduce the Metropolitan Development lic system. load on the public system. (Continued on page 3) (Continued on page 3) (Continued on page 2) CMYK 2 MADRAS MUSINGS June 16-30, 2017 A very rare visitor Dancing Doctors & other Jis (Continued from page 1) The next evening, Brown called and informed me that he had hese are times when in the he had no idea that the time Rationing Body mentioned spotted the nesting site. It was Tworlds of politics and arts, had gone by so quickly. He above. An e-mail arrived pair of Shikra soaring and then you can earn brownie points by never could keep track of time, shortly thereafter from the there was a flock of Black kites. remarkable news. Being a fal- prefixing people’s names with he said, especially when he was organisation, thanking MMM We waited for a few more min- coner, he had used his tracking a ‘Doctor’ and suffixing them speaking. He then promised to for accepting and stating that utes and as it was late for our skills to discover the nest. The with a ‘ji’. The latter, inciden- wrap up in the next few as part of the rules, MMM breakfast, we decided to leave. nest was a shabby structure tally, appears to have pen- minutes and spent the next 15 would need submit a detailed It was then we saw another lined with debris like plastic etrated the Tamil lexicon, at of them in thanking everyone article on his theme, which flock of Black kites. Using my covers on the terrace of least in Madras that is Chen- concerned, all of them Dr ‘Ji’s. would be included as part of a binoculars I scanned them. Spencer’s Plaza. nai, for even the most rabid The Dr ‘Ji’s in the audience publication to be released after Among them one bird stood I wondered how a single bird Hindi haters use the ‘ji’ at all lapped it all up and when, the seminar. To this MMM out. Yes, it was a Brahminy kite. could nest and breed. If the bird odd moments. Coming back to eventually, after what seemed sent a reply stating that when had to nest, it should have its the similarity between the like an eternity, the speaker he accepted the invitation he I told my friend that he was worlds of arts and politics, it waddled off stage, he was was unaware of such a precon- right. We both watched the bird pair, I argued. We saw only one does not end with the Dr and greeted with good applause. dition and if this was compul- as it flew above us and within a bird and we did not know the Ji. Politics is said to be an The Dr ‘Ji’s were happy that sory he would prefer to be few seconds it flew past the road whether it was a female or male. art and as for art, it is full of they had been referred to in excused from attending the only to disappear behind the Brown speculated that the bird politics.