For many years, elephants crossing railway tracks on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border were dying under trains. These tragedies occurred along railway lines passing through the animals' natural habitat, but a more detailed analysis was required to accurately determine the locations and times of these incidents.
In 2021, Dayanand Krishnanan, a 52-year-old civil engineer and GIS consultant from Chennai, collaborated with RTI activist Pandiarajan to obtain data from the Southern Railway. Their goal was to find out exactly where, when, and on which section of the tracks the elephants were dying.
The obtained data allowed Dayanand to build a map. He spent almost a decade submitting requests on various topics, including railway construction and water quality, and mapped the accident sites, revealing patterns. These results demonstrated which sections of the tracks posed a particular danger to elephants, including areas near water sources.
The study attracted media attention and highlighted the need to implement more effective safety measures. Subsequently, the Madras High Court began taking steps to prevent elephant deaths, such as installing thermal cameras and AI-based detection systems along the tracks.
Dayanand notes: 'Around 6000-7000 sightings of elephants have been safely registered in Tamil Nadu. The system is now implemented.' However, in Kerala, outside the border, elephants continue to die on railway tracks. On August 12, 2026, an elephant with a calf died near Palakkad in Kerala. The Madras High Court demanded that the detection system operating in Tamil Nadu be extended to the section in Kerala.
For Dayanand, this experience proves what happens when government information becomes accessible to people who know how to use it. He is convinced that every citizen should know how to request this information.
You Can Also Demand Answers from the Government
One does not need to be an activist or an engineer to file a freedom of information request. The Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2005 grants every citizen of India the right to request information held by government bodies, whether it is a municipal corporation, a government ministry, or a railway department.
One can request reports on unfinished roads, water quality data, the status of government projects, or information on public fund expenditure. Generally, the authority is obliged to respond within 30 days. This does not require a lawyer or an explanation for the request; a written or online application and a prescribed fee, usually around 10 rupees, are sufficient.
This is one of the few tools an ordinary citizen can use to obtain official records and hold government bodies accountable. Nevertheless, Dayanand believes too few people utilize this right. Over eight years and hundreds of applications, he has learned what distinguishes a useful RTI response from delays and the need for follow-up inquiries.
Who Should Your RTI Go To and What Should It Say
The process begins even before you write the first question. Dayanand points out: 'Most often, people address it to the wrong authority. That is the main problem.'
Sending an application to the wrong department can delay the response or lead to waiting time while the document is transferred.
Therefore, before drafting an RTI, it is necessary to find out which government body holds the information and who is responsible for processing the request. Dayanand recommends the following steps:
- Find the appropriate Public Information Officer (PIO). Most departments publish lists of their PIOs on their websites, sometimes by zone or district. If you are unsure, call the department and ask which section handles the information you need.
- Ask for existing records, not explanations. Dayanand advises: 'Never ask 'how', 'what', 'when', or 'why',' because such phrasing constitutes questions, and the application will be rejected. This is his advice on drafting requests, not a legal prohibition on certain words. According to the RTI Act, officials are obligated to provide information available in their records, but they are generally not obliged to create new explanations. Instead of asking why a road project is delayed, for example, one should request its current status, approved completion date, and copies of relevant progress reports.
Know the Relevant Sections
Section 6(1) regulates the right to request information. Section 6(3) obliges a government body to transfer the application or its relevant part to another government body if appropriate. Dayanand advises citing these sections in the application, although it is not mandatory.
Keep the Application Focused
Dayanand advises limiting requests to about 10–20 clearly formulated points. This is his practical recommendation, not a fixed legal limit. It is important to specify the necessary records without unnecessarily complicating the application.
Once the letter is ready, it can be submitted through the relevant RTI portal or by following the department's established offline procedure. For central ministries and government departments, applications can be submitted via the Central Online RTI Portal. For state government departments, submission instructions must be checked on the respective authority's website. The Central Portal does not accept applications addressed to state government bodies.
The request can be entered directly into the online form or attached as a document if the portal allows it. After submitting the application and paying the fee, save the registration number or confirmation. This is the first step. What happens after receiving the information can be equally important.
Dayanand learned this during a dispute over drinking water in Tambaram. An RTI request regarding water pollution turned into a lawsuit.
It all started with the question of what every family needs: safe drinking water. Dayanand wanted to know what the testing reports from the Tambaram Corporation Zone 3 showed. He filed an RTI for this purpose. What he discovered was alarming: according to the data, E. coli bacteria were found in the groundwater, and the contamination was linked to a nearby lake affected by sewage.
For residents dependent on this water supply, this was a critical finding. Dayanand made this information public hoping the corporation would investigate the pollution and solve the problem.
However, instead of the expected response, he faced criminal prosecution. Dayanand reports that the corporation disputed his findings, calling them 'fake news,' and sued him. He had to defend the very information he obtained from official documents. So, he returned to the documents. Dayanand extracted three years of reports from the Department of Public Health, which, he says, had already raised questions about the water quality in the same lake long before he publicly raised the issue. He presented these documents to the Chief Secretary. Dayanand asserts that they helped establish that the testing conducted by the corporation commissioner covered physical and chemical parameters but did not conduct adequate checks for bacterial contamination when charges were brought against him. The same government records that helped him raise the issue now helped him confirm his findings.
Dayanand concludes: 'RTI also protects you when you ask questions of the government. You must do it correctly and reasonably, because it matters. 'What you ask and how you ask it matters. Only then can it protect you'.' His experience shows why requested documents, received answers, and saved records can matter long after the RTI response.
But Dayanand also encountered another frustrating situation during his years of filing RTIs: moments when the government simply stopped responding.
No Reply to Your RTI? Here's What You Can Do
For two years, Dayanand used the information obtained from the Southern Railway to raise questions about stalled projects. He shared these records with the media in hopes of drawing attention to the delays. However, over time, getting responses from the department became increasingly difficult. He says the Southern Railway began citing Section 7(9) of the RTI Act to avoid providing information. This provision allows authorities to change the method of providing information if the requested format requires too many resources or risks damaging records. However, this does not give them the right to completely refuse to provide information.
Dayanand notes: 'They started evading RTI applications.'
If you have ever sent an application to a government agency and waited weeks for a reply, you can understand how frustrating it is. But a delay or lack of response to an RTI does not mean you have reached a dead end. The law provides ways for subsequent actions, challenging the response, and obtaining the due information.
Here is what Dayanand recommends:
- Check the 30-day period: Government bodies generally have 30 days to respond, although timelines vary in certain circumstances. Dayanand says that delays are common in his experience working with government departments, and he often makes follow-up requests. 'We remind them and try to get a response.'
- File a First Appeal: If there is no response within the stipulated time or you are dissatisfied with the response, you can file a first appeal with a senior officer in the same government body. This usually needs to be done within 30 days of the response or the expiry of the deadline. First appeals are free. Dayanand notes that this stage can be frustrating since the appellate officer belongs to the same department. 'This person knows me too.'
- Proceed to Second Appeal: If the first appeal fails or remains unresolved, you can approach the Central Information Commission or the relevant State Information Commission. The usual timeframe for a second appeal is 90 days from the receipt or presumed decision on the first appeal. Dayanand is currently pursuing a second appeal himself.
If the issue is public, consider approaching the media. Dayanand has repeatedly provided verified government information to journalists to draw attention to civic problems. His experience shows how public scrutiny can help highlight forgotten issues.
Another concern that may worry many people before filing an RTI is whether it can be done anonymously. Dayanand replies: 'There is no such provision. It must be submitted in the name of a natural person.' An RTI application requires identification details and contact information, so understanding the procedure and maintaining proper records of communications is crucial.
What Eight Years of Filing RTIs Have Taught Him
After eight years of filing RTIs, Dayanand has one wish: that more government information would be easily accessible to the public without the need for a formal request. He cites the Airports Authority of India, which already publishes monthly flight and passenger traffic data for free access. He insists: 'All government departments should be transparent. Why should we file an RTI to find out this information?'
Although he hopes more departments will adopt similar practices, he also wants citizens to better utilize their right to information. Dayanand observes: 'In Chennai, we don't see many RTI activists working on social issues,' mentioning Arapur Iyakkam as one of the few active groups in this field. He also believes that people should fact-check before forming opinions about issues affecting their cities. For instance, he often encounters claims that Chennai has 'lost its industry' to Bangalore. By studying international aviation data, he found that both cities have a similar number of flights. While these figures alone are insufficient to establish a comparison of their industries, he believes that official data serves as a useful starting point. 'Talk to the data.'
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