The Economic Times             28.12.2013

Rs 75 cr flyover for Erode: Environment Minister

ERODE (TN): In a bid to ease traffic congestion in the town, a flyover would be constructed at a cost of Rs 75 crore at a busy junction here, Environment Minister Thoppu N D Venkatachalam said today.

Presiding over the District Development council meeting at the Collectorate, he said as an immediate measure, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had sanctioned Rs 11 crore for formation of a traffic island at the government headquarters hospital junction.

"Of the amount, Rs eight crore could be spent for land acquisition. The land owners have already given consent for the acquisition and the amount would be credited in their account by tomorrow," he said.

As regards the flyover, the Highways Department had sent a proposal for Rs 75 crore. Getting sanction the flyover work would also commenced, he said asking officials to remove encroachments which were a cause of the traffic snarls.

District Collector Dr V.K. Shanmugam said the district would face water scarcity during summer as it had received deficit rainfall during the monsoon.

As against the normal rainfall of 717 mm, the district had received only 540 mm.

The Minister reviewed the performances of AMMA scheme, Public Distribution system, Erode Municipal Corporation, PWD and other departments.

The New Indian Express               28.12.2013

Mayor Saidai S Duraisamy and Commissioner Vikram Kapur at the Corporation Council meeting in the city on Friday | Express Photo

The Chennai Corporation, on Friday, passed a resolution during a council meeting to induct eight modern vehicles for catching and transporting stray cattle. The vehicles, which are to be bought at a cost of Rs 1.18 crore will strengthen the already existing fleet, from which three vehicles which served for more than 15 years are to be rolled out.

An interesting feature that has been added in the new vehicles are that they will have hydraulic lifts for loading the cattle onto the vehicle without the use of leash or other painful methods. The vehicle is also closed,  which will provide comfortable transport of the cattle.

Councillors said the vehicles should not only be used when complaints are received but also when cattle cause obstructions. Also, some of the councillors expressed that they had received complaints of improper treatment of the cattle at the Blue Cross centres where they are taken and detained until the owners claimed them.

A councillor from Ambattur informed said, “I have received complaints from residents that the cattle that were detained were not taken care of properly.” Many argued that there was no point in clearing the cattle from roads in a humane manner if they undergo ill treatment during detention.

The mayor assured that the suggestions and complaints would be taken into consideration.

Answering questions raised by a councillor on the importance being given to the free mosquito net scheme over general mitigation measures, Chennai Mayor Saidai Duraisamy said that the distribution of mosquito nets to the general public was only an emergency intervention measure and had been implemented according to the needs.