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Tamil Nadu News Papers

Illegal building in Nandambakkam demolished

Saturday, 01 August 2009 12:50
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Times of India 01.08.2009

Illegal building in Nandambakkam demolished

TNN 1 August 2009, 12:56am IST
CHENNAI: There was some tension in Nandambakkam on Friday morning after the occupants of an illegal building on Butt Road blocked traffic for over an hour, protesting against the building being demolished. They dispersed after they were shown the relevant court order.

Around 9.30 am, officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and 80 policemen, including 30 armed reserve police personnel, began work on demolishing the structure. However, the building's occupants and their supporters came out and asked the authorities to provide them with sufficient evidence for demolishing the structure, saying the Madras high court had stayed a move to demolish the building.

The NHAI authorities then presented a copy of Thursday's order of the Madras high court that quashed the case against the demolition. The crowd then dispersed and traffic along Butt Road, one of the busiest stretches connecting the western suburbs to the city, slowly returned to normal.

Constructed in 1997, the illegal building that had been rented out to commercial establishments, had come up on nearly 3,000 sq ft of land belonging to the Ministry of Defence. When the NHAI acquired the land from the Defence Ministry to expand the road, which connects Guindy with Poonamalle, the illegal occupants of the building filed a suit in the Madras high court and got a stay against the demolition.
 

Infrequent water supply tops council meetings in suburbs

Saturday, 01 August 2009 12:48
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Times of India 01.08.2009

Infrequent water supply tops council meetings in suburbs

TNN 1 August 2009, 12:19am IST

CHENNAI: Infrequent water supply to residents topped the agenda at the municipal council meetings in Alandur, Pallavaram and Tambaram on Friday.

Despite frequent showers in the suburbs, the water table in many areas continues to be low and residents have to rely on the water supplied by the local bodies. However, the irregular supply has made life miserable. "For more than 10 days now, the residents in my ward (No: 23) have not got water and I have not been able to answer those who elected me," said Alandur councillor V N P Venkataraman.

Cutting across partylines, councillors blamed the Alandur municipal officials for failing to address public grievances. Municipal chairman A Duraivelu, in fact, took a dig at the officials and said that the councillors could henceforth come directly to him with their problems rather than go to the officials.

The various councillors demanded that municipality take more water from the Metrowater and from private tanker lorries. They also insisted that the existing overhead tanks be strengthened and new overhead tanks built as the population in the area had grown over the years. The number of overhead tanks had not increased, they said.

Similarly, councillors in the Pallavaram and Tambaram municipalities raised the irregular supply of water in their localities.

Councillors of the Tambaram municipality demanded that the work on the water supply scheme, aimed at providing uninterrupted supply to residents, be expedited.

In Pallavaram, the councillors demanded better roads before the monsoon sets in. Most of the councillors said the municipality should complete the underground stormwater drainage project at the earliest as the channels dug up for the purpose weren't closed and were posing a risk to residents.

 

Foundation stone for Perambur loco works bridge laid

Saturday, 01 August 2009 12:46
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Times of India 01.08.2009

Foundation stone for Perambur loco works bridge laid

TNN 1 August 2009, 12:57am IST
CHENNAI: A new road overbridge (ROB) is to come up in Perambur, adjacent to the one near the Perambur Loco Works that has been a crucial link to the residents of Kolathur, Jawahar Nagar, Perambur and Ayanavaram for almost 100 years. Union minister Dayanidhi Maran on Friday laid the foundation stone for the construction of the new bridge, which is estimated to cost Rs 8.41 crore and for which the minister and his father Murasoli Maran had contributed funds under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme.

"This had been a long-pending demand of the locals and has now materialised. I am elated that the dream project of my father, for which he contributed Rs 4.5 crore from his MPLAD Scheme, has been revived," said Dayanidhi Maran.

There were many reasons for the delay in the execution of the project, Maran said. The rise in the prices of construction material saw the cost shooting up to Rs 6 crore a few years ago. Despite tenders being floated, the project did not take shape and the Chennai Corporation only managed to repair the pot-holed stretches leading to the dilapidated old structure. At one point of time, the estimated cost of the project had gone up to as much as Rs 9.25 crore, the minister said.

Speaking on the occasion, Mayor M Subramanian expressed satisfaction over the ongoing civic projects in various parts of the city. Work on road under bridges (RUBs) at M C Choultry Street off Old Jail Road, Jones Road in Saidapet and Villivakkam and ROBs at Rangarajapuram in Kodambakkam and Korukkupet was at various stages of completion. "We want the railway to part with land near the Rangarajapuram flyover site," Subramanian said.

Southern Railway chief administrative officer R Ramanathan said the new ROB in Preambur would be 106 m long and 4.5 m wide. There will be 1.8-m wide footpaths on both sides. Seven spans, between 8 m and 18 m wide, will separate nine rail tracks. About 300 tonnes of steel and 1,250 tonnes of cement are estimated to be needed for the project that is expected to be completed in March 2010.

Southern Railway general manager M Jayanth, however, hoped the the project would be opened on Pongal next year. The railway has at least 12 ongoing subway/flyover projects in the Chennai-Arakkonam and Chennai-Tambaram sectors and another 23 which are yet to begin.
 
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