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Resident ID cards to arrive by year-end

Thursday, 14 February 2013 07:56 administrator
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The Hindu                           14.02.2013

Resident ID cards to arrive by year-end

Biometric camps on in 14 locations; collection of details to be completed by June.

Residents of the city will get their resident identity cards (RIC) by the end of this year or early next year.

The Directorate of Census Operations, Tamil Nadu, which started enrolling people through biometric camps, will complete collecting biometric and demographic data of the residents in Thousand Lights, Purasawalkam, Egmore and Nungambakkam by the end of this month. The collection of biometric data for all areas in the city will be completed by June.

The project to prepare biometric data, including finger prints, iris and photograph, of the residents under the National Population Register was started in December last year along with Chennai Corporation. Officials of the directorate of census operations said that the biometric camps would help in collecting data of residents for issuing resident identity card, which is a smart card with a micro-processor chip containing information on other proof of identity documents.

Of the total 41.53 lakh people who will be covered, nearly 51,000 residents’ details have been collated so far. At present, the biometric camps to issue resident identity cards with unique identification number are being conducted in 14 different locations.

All city residents aged above five are being covered in the biometric data collection camps. Even those who have obtained Aadhar numbers from the postal department and banks have to provide details under the NPR to get their cards.

Krishna Rao, Joint Director, Directorate of Census Operations, said that “We are training enumerators to conduct camps in zone 5 (Royapuram) and zone 6 (Thiru.Vi.Ka.Nagar). The camps will start by next week. We want to complete the process by June to enable issuing of the smart card.”

Enumerators would visit the residents of every ward and provide them with a Know your Residents plus form with information on the family members and date and venue of the camps. “Residents need not carry any documents other than the form as information on ration card, driving license and passport number would have been already collected,” an official said.

Mr. Rao said that residents could make corrections on the data being registered in both English and Tamil during the camps to avoid mistakes in the RIC.

Once this exercise is completed, residents would get a card with their unique identification number called ‘Aadhaar’ by post. After verification of data, the list would be displayed at designated centres to enable residents to check errors. The Bangalore-based BHEL would provide the RIC with micro-chip containing integrated data from all other identity cards.

The directorate has completed data collection process in five districts, including Ariyalur and Karur. While 25 per cent of people have been covered in Kancheepuram, 7 per cent of the people have undergone biometric process in Tiruvallur district.

Officials said that the RIC will serve as proof of identity anywhere in the country and the unique number envisages the elimination of fake identities.

The government plans to make it a multi-purpose card which can be used as proof to access the state government’s welfare schemes.

Last Updated on Thursday, 14 February 2013 11:08
 

Solar energy park to be ready by May at Paramakudi

Thursday, 14 February 2013 07:46 administrator
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The Hindu                   14.02.2013

Solar energy park to be ready by May at Paramakudi

Special Correspondent

A dozen companies evince interest in setting up power plants in the park.

Raasi Green Earth Energy Private Ltd (RGEE), which had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) for establishing Rs. 920 crore solar energy park at Paramakudi, would develop the park by May after completing the land acquisition process by the end of this month.

Giving details of the progress of the project, promoted under the public-private partnership mode, a first of its kind in the country, Mr. C.Narasimhan, Chairman, RGEE said the company had acquired 200 acres of land and complete the process of acquiring 600 acres by the end of this month and make the park ready in the next three months.

“After signing a joint venture agreement with TIDCO in the presence of Chief Minister in December, we have a tie-up with Larsen and Tubro, CanadianSolar, Enerpark and Sgurr to develop the park,” Mr. Narasimhan told The Hindu here after meeting the District Collector here Tuesday night.

He said the park, being established in a high solar power potential shadow free area near Paramakudi, would have “semi plug and play facility” for the investors, who wished to set up their power plants in the park. The park would also have facilities for power evacuation besides common infrastructure support, he said. The park is the first project established under the state government’s solar energy policy, 2012.

Stating that a dozen companies have evinced interest in setting up power plants in the park, Mr. Narasimhan said RGEE would invest about Rs.200 crore in the project. It would develop the park at a cost of Rs. 120 crore and establish a 10 MW unit at a cost of Rs.80 crore.

The companies, which have shown “expression of interest” would be required to establish a power plant to produce a minimum of 5 MW, involving an investment of Rs. 40 crore at the rate of Rs. 8 crore per MW, he said adding “by the end of this year, we will generate 100 MW from the park.”

Mr. Narasimhan said the park would provide direct employment to 1,000 people and indirect employment to a similar number. Imported high end solar cells and panels would be used in the power plants to achieve highest production, he said.

The existing 100 MW grid at Kavanur, near the upcoming park would provide the much needed power evacuation facility, he said. A sub-station and extension bay would be built at a cost of Rs.40 crore and connectivity cables for power evacuation would be provided at the doorsteps of each developer, he added.

Mr. Narasimhan said the land acquisition process has turned out to be a smooth process, thanks to District Collector K. Nanthakumar, who has appointed a nodal officer to verify land records and ensure they were free from encumbrance. He was getting good support from TIDCO and Tamil Nadu Industries and Power Ministries, he said.

In deference to the wishes of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, he would establish similar solar energy parks elsewhere in the State to produce a total of 1,000 MW of power. The second solar energy park in the State would come up in Krishnagiri Lok Sabha constituency, which he had represented during 1996-98, he said. The other solar parks would be established in the districts of Tiruvannamalai, Ariyalur, Pudukottai, Dharmapuri, Tiruchi and Perambalur, he added.

Assessment Station

A fully monitoring Solar Radiation Resource Assessment Station would be established in the park with the assistance of Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, C. Narasimhan, Chairman of Raasi Green Earth Energy Pvt Ltd (RGEE), has said.

The station with satellite link facilities would measure solar radiation inside the park and disseminate the details to all developers in the park. The developers, who set up power plants, could make use of the facility free of cost, he said.

Similarly, a Solar Energy Technical Centre and Training Centre would be established in the park for the benefit of participating companies, he said.

The Technical Centre would keep developers informed of advanced technologies in the sphere of solar energy while the Training Centre would impart training on solar projects to the personnel, he said.

“Besides, there will be security and peace of mind in the park,” he added.

Last Updated on Thursday, 14 February 2013 08:50
 

Showers help improve storage position in Siruvani reservoir

Thursday, 30 August 2012 04:48 administrator
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The Hindu    30.08.2012

Showers help improve storage position in Siruvani reservoir

V.S. Palaniappan

The recent showers in the catchment areas of Siruvani reservoir has brought an end to the city’s fear of an impending water scarcity, as the present storage will help in meeting drinking water needs of Coimbatore City and a number of way side habitations for the next two months.

After a delay leading to disappointment over South West Monsoon’s benefits for the city, a sharp spell of showers in July end helped in improving the storage considerably.

Siruvani with a Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 50 ft almost witnessed near dead storage experience during the peak summer. But, the showers helped in improving the storage to 17.7 ft (as on August 28).

Considering the withdrawal ranging from 65 mld to 80 mld and the depleting quantum of loss due to evaporation, the storage is expected to help the city to steer ahead for the next two months without water scarcity.

TWAD Board officials and City’s Water supply managers are pinning hopes on the showers to continue. The dam witnessed rainfall of 34 mm on Monday and the rainfall continued on Tuesday as well.

There is a copious inflow from the Pattiaru River and Muthikulam Falls besides nearly ten other small wild streams and rivulets reaching the catchment area.

With the continuing inflow and indications of rainfall also continuing, the water supply managers expect an easy sailing for the next 60 days and expect the North East monsoon to set in by October.

Quoting Meteorologists, officials said that delay or disappointment in South West Monsoon was because of the El-Nino factor (unusual warming of the ocean surface around equatorial Pacific).

The phenomenon is often associated with bad South West Monsoons in India. The common belief and experiences in the past has been that El-Nino related monsoon failure during South West Monsoon season is normally compensated during the North East Monsoon.

Normally South West Monsoon was expected to bring heavy rain in catchment areas and hilly terrains thus improving the storage in reservoirs, while North East Monsoon used to benefit the plains more.But, records indicated that Siruvani had received even up to 1,000 mm rainfall during North East Monsoon.

Going by storage and rainfall related statistics of the past, officials pointed out that a substantial improvement in storage or even surplussing of Siruvani during the South West Monsoon and North East Monsoon supplementing the withdrawal alone would help in sailing through the next summer.

The present storage has eased the fears of an immediate water scarcity but the benefits of North East Monsoon alone would help the city avert a water scarcity during the summer season of 2013.

There had been intermittent showers in the catchments of the Parambikulam – Aliyar Project (PAP) area on Sunday and Monday, thus helping to improve storage to some extent (see graphics).The rainfall continued on Monday and Tuesday as well.

Thoonacadavu recorded 24 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours that ended at 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday, Peruvaripallam 22, Upper Nirar 24, Lower Nirar 47, Upper Aliyar 7, Manacadavu 6.9, Vettaikaranpudur 6.2, Valparai camp 13 and Sircarpathy 12.

In the last 24 hours that ended at 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday, Coimbatore district recorded a total rainfall of 79 mm and the average rainfall stood at 6.58.Pollachi recorded 3 mm, Cincona in Valparai 22, Chinna Kallar 24, Valparai PAP 13 and Valparai Taluk office 17.

Last Updated on Thursday, 30 August 2012 04:51
 
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