The Times of India                26.09.2013  

Truck used for illegal dumping has Coimbatore corporation sticker

COIMBATORE: The city municipal corporation's drive against illegal dumping of construction debris seemed to have started on an ironic note after the seizure of a truck that was caught dumping earth and few bricks dug out as part of laying foundation structure into Kurichi Lake early Wednesday morning. However, the irony is that a sticker is pasted on the front windshield announcing it to be part of Coimbatore Municipal Corporation's Roadwork fleet. The truck is presently parked behind the corporation main office near Town Hall but officials claim they are yet to locate the original owner of the truck and the load that was dumped in the lake.

"We have seized the truck after the driver was found dumping the load into the wetland which is not allowed. We will initiate stern proceedings against those responsible for the incident," said S Sivarasu, deputy commissioner, Coimbatore municipal corporation.

But the vehicle bears the sign ' Emergency Coimbatore Corporation Road Works' on its windshield indicating that it could be part of the private trucks deployed from time to time for road maintenance work in the city. But the corporation claims that the vehicle was hired on contract basis in the past for carrying out road works and the contractor and the owner might have been plying it without removing the sticker after their agreement with the corporation expired. They claim to be unable to identify the contractor or the owner of the vehicle.

"It is unlikely that the truck is being used for corporation roadwork . It might have been used in the past, which explains the sticker. We will look into the matter," Sivarasu added.

A team of corporation officials were on night patrol at Kurichi on Wednesday morning when they found the truck parked near the Kurichi Lake at 1.30 am. They asked the driver to stop dumping the earth into the lake. The driver did not divulge much and was asked to take the truck to the corporation main office which he did, before he was allowed to leave the office.

"Corporation officials have been asked to go on night patrols around the nine water bodies under the civic body's control to prevent illegal dumping. The truck driver was caught red handed in the act," said a senior corporation official

The civic body later officially released the pictures of the seized vehicle but the sticker on the windshield was conspicuously missing in those photographs.

The Hindu             26.09.2013

Corporation renews efforts to shift zoo

Staff Reporter

The Coimbatore Corporation has renewed its efforts to have the Corporation Zoo shifted to the prison grounds. According to Corporation Commissioner G. Latha the civic body was eagerly awaiting the visit of the Central Zoo Authority, scheduled to visit the Zoo by the end of this month.

At present the Zoo functioned with a temporary license issued by the Authority for mini zoos.

During the Authority’s visit, the Corporation would also request them to visit the prison grounds so as to obtain its permission for shifting the Zoo there. For, the Corporation had planned to shift the Zoo to the prison grounds and had also obtained the Corporation Council’s approval for the same. Once the Authority granted permission, the Corporation would seek necessary approval from the State Government, which at present was seized of the matter. It was only a matter of time before the approval came through, Ms. Latha said and added that the issue was whether the definition ‘park’ in the land use classification would also cover zoo.