The Hindu                       15.04.2013

Bridges to be sheathed in steel, covered in colour

Staff Reporter

A makeover has been proposed for bridges and flyovers in the city, which will soon be adorned with stainless steel railings and artwork.

The Chennai Corporation has begun a study on various options to improve the look of these crucial structures, to enhance the overall aesthetics of several localities. Bridges and flyovers in the city are likely to sport a new look with stainless steel railings and artwork. The Chennai Corporation has commenced a study on various options for improving aesthetics on such structures to boost the visual impact in the localities.

Stainless steel railings will come up on most of the 262 bridges and flyovers in the city, including the 65 high-level bridges and 13 grade-separators maintained by the Corporation.

Most of these are along major bus routes and the enhancements will be carried out based on opinions from traffic police personnel and traffic planners.

In addition to bridges and grade separators, the Corporation also maintains 31 box culverts, 81 slab culverts, 11 rail overbridges, 14 rail underbridges, six pedestrian subways, six causeways and 35 footbridges.

Such structures along key routes will also be covered in the beautification drive. Through this initiative, the civic body is expected to put in place a lasting solution to the inadequate maintenance of essential structures. At present, the routine maintenance of bridges is carried out by respective zonal offices and the Corporation’s bridges department looks after structural maintenance.

An earlier proposal by the civic body, made a few years ago, envisaged using colourful tiles to beautify subways and bridges.

Tiles were used on a pedestrian footpath along a bridge on Binny Road in 2009. Structures such as Parthasarathy Bridge in Mint, Nelson Manickam Road in Nungambakkam, and a pedestrian subway near Kannagi Statue on Kamarajar Salai also got a makeover a few years ago.

Additional lighting and stainless steel handrails were also provided to some of these structures then.

The Hindu                       15.04.2013

Apply for ‘Aadhaar’ under NPR

Octogenarian P. Avudiappan of TVS Nagar is anxious about getting the ‘Aadhaar’ card. Bearing the sweltering afternoon heat on April 11, he went to enrol his name at a special camp conducted by the Madurai Corporation at Annai Teresa Nursing College and after a long wait in the queue he managed to get his identity captured by the biometric machine.

The 88-year-old man was one among the hundreds of people who have made use of the opportunity to submit their biometric and demographic data.

“We were told that there will be benefits for us if we get this card. Our area councillor informed us about the enrolment camp and five members from my family have registered now,” he says while leaving happily with an acknowledgment slip of Unique Identification Authority of India. Enrolment centres were buzzing with activity as families hurried up to utilise the chance. There were many who got their doubts clarified from the staff.

A. Justin Sahayaraj, who is coordinating the enrolment process for Madurai Corporation, was at the spot to guide the public about National Identity Card.

“The first phase of enrolment is over now and we have covered all the 100 wards in Madurai based on the 2010 population census data. Those who are not covered will be enrolled in the second phase to be launched during May,” he says.

After collating the data, the enrolment list will be finally verified by officials after which it would be displayed at various centres in every ward so that the residents can check if the particulars are correctly entered. After completing this process, the Bharat Electronics will issue ‘Aadhaar’ number and Resident Identity Card would be issued.

The National Population Register (NPR) has been taken as the basis for identity card enrolment and the Directorate of Census Operations is implementing the project in Tamil Nadu. Residents were asked to take the census acknowledgment slip given to them by enumerators at the time of taking population census in 2010.

There are doubts persisting in the minds of those who already got Aadhaar card through special camps conducted by private players earlier. For them, the officials say that these people will have to apply again under the NPR to get a fresh identity card. So, in effect, if the card is obtained not through census data, then it is invalid.

Residents who are above five years of age can enrol for the identity card. Fingerprints of 10 fingers and two iris images are captured and recorded. After registering the particulars, a printout will be given immediately.

“We have covered 70 per cent of population in Madurai Corporation and the leftover people will be covered in the second phase. Our estimate is that another 30,000 families are yet to enrol for Resident Identity Card,” says Sahayaraj.

Sanitary inspectors, assistant revenue officers and bill collectors of the civic body received training last week for enrolment process. They will take the second phase forward from May. After ensuring that there is no duplication, the identity card with 12-digit Aadhaar number will be issued. For that, residents have to wait at least for one year since the process has to be completed at national level.

M.S. Ramakrishnan of Alagappa Nagar has an appeal to the corporation authorities to take ration card into account instead of insisting on bringing the census acknowledgment given in the year 2010.

“Many people have missed that slip and where can we search now. Moreover, the process should be easy and it looks as if one day is not enough to register for Aadhaar card,” he laments.

Those who want to know about National Identity Card camps and how to obtain Resident Identity Card with Aadhaar number can contact the Corporation coordinator Mr.Sahayaraj on mobile number- 94434-73642.