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Tamil Nadu News Papers

Corpn to upgrade five schools

Thursday, 16 July 2009 07:35
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The Times of India 16.07.2009

Corpn to upgrade five schools

CHENNAI: After some embarrasing moments over the merger of schools, the state government is taking steps to shore up the image of the Chennai Corporation. According to school education minister Thangam Thennarasu, five corporation-run schools will be upgraded in the current academic year.

"At least two middle schools and three high schools will be upgraded to high and higher secondary schools this year," Thennarasu said in the assembly on Wednesday.

Earlier, at a function at a school in Saidapet to commemorate former chief minister K Kamaraj's birth anniversary, Mayor M Subramanian said the upgradation would help students continue in the same schools instead of seeking admission elsewhere after completing middle and high schools.

The schools being upgraded are CHS Pudupakkam in Velachery, CHS MGR Nagar, CHS Kalyanapuram in Pulianthoppe and middle schools at Thiruvenkadasamy in Pulianthoppe and Kannammapet in Kodambakkam. About 38,000 students of corporation middle schools will get Tamil-English dictionaries on Thursday, while arrangements have been made to give away shoes and bags soon, the Mayor said.
 

Water woes for residents of Chromepet, Pallavaram

Thursday, 16 July 2009 07:32
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The Times of India 16.07.2009

Water woes for residents of Chromepet, Pallavaram

CHENNAI: Last week, K Prasanna of Pallavaram was embarrassed to tell his friends and relatives not to visit his house for the next few months. He himself has stayed back at his office in Royapettah many times. Reason? the acute water crisis in the Pallavaram and Chromepet areas. On Wednesday, the CPM's local unit organised a public meeting in Chromepet on the crisis.

Till a month ago, the Pallavaram municipality was supplying water once in two days. Now, it is supplied for a few hours once a week. About 1.6 crore litres of water is the estimated requirement for the 2.5 lakh population every day. Only 64 lakh litres are supplied now.

Many residents have made their own arrangements. The BRR Nagar Residents Welfare Association in Chromepet constructed a tank to store the 27,000 litres it buys from private lorries every week for its members.

"With most wells and borewells dry, every day is a struggle,'' said Naganathan, a resident and shopkeeper in Pallavaram.

Many of the areas where residents got Rs 2,000 each from the state government last year after their houses were flooded are also affected by the crisis.

"Almost all the five lakes in the municipality limits have been illegally encroached upon or used to dump garbage. Steps should be taken to protect them to ensure that there is no crisis next year,'' said N Gunasekaran of Chromepet.

Many shopkeepers said even private lorries were taking two days to supply one load of water.

Municipal chairman E Karunanidhi said piped water was being supplied once in 2-3 days to many areas. But the supply had been disrupted many times as pipes were damaged due to the road-expansion works near Vandalur. "During the previous AIADMK regime, only 40 lakh litres were suppled a day; now we are supplying 64 lakh litres. We also supply 120 loads of water every day through lorries to areas where there is no piped supply. This week, we asked Metrowater to provide 10 lakh litres water to the Chromepet and Pallavaram areas daily. We hope this plea will be accepted,'' he added.

The municipality drafted a Rs 64-crore scheme for water supply and passed a resolution in the council meeting to get it implemented under the centrally-sponsored Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

 

Garbage still being burnt at Pallikaranai, says HC panel

Thursday, 16 July 2009 07:20
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The Times of India 16.07.2009

Garbage still being burnt at Pallikaranai, says HC panel

CHENNAI: In a damning report, an expert committee formed by the Madras high court to visit the Pallikaranai marsh and submit a report, has said burning of garbage continued unabated at the marsh and Perungudi despite several court rulings.

"The fire in the dumpsite continues despite specific orders of this court," said the report, which was tabled before the first bench comprising chief justice HL Gokhale and justice K Venkataraman. The bench has already appointed advocate V Karthik as amicus curiae, to assist the court in the matter.

The report said the existing method of handling municipal solid waste at Perungudi is not scientific and it violates mandatory provisions of law. Noting that the dumping area is progressively increasing, it said that no source segregation was done.

If power generation from waste is considered at the site, the air emission would adversely affect residents in the region, the report cautioned, adding, "if power generation is not considered, and if the stage is only up to manufacture of pellets, the end-use of pellets has to be established."

The available options are neither economical nor viable, it said, adding that the Chennai corporation and other civic bodies in Pallikaranai region must put a system in place to achieve zero waste management project within four years. Citing the case of West Bengal, New Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, the report also wanted the government to enact the Tamil Nadu Throwaway Plastic Articles (Prohibition of Sale, Storage, Distribution and Transport) Bill 2003.

On Wednesday, the court asked the Chennai corporation to file its reply by July 29, after the Alandur Municipality stated that it had stopped indiscriminate dumping and burning of garbage at the site.
 
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