Towns and Cities

Opposition councillors want CBI probe

Tuesday, 20 April 2010 07:57 administrator

The New Indian Express 20.04.2010

Opposition councillors want CBI probe

COIMBATORE: Opposition councillors belonging to the AIADMK, MDMK, CPI and BJP staged a demonstration demanding a CBI probe into the sinking apartment issue in Coimbatore on Monday.

In this month alone, two apartments under construction at Ammankulam had sunk into the ground. While one block sank 40cm into the earth on April 3, the other went in one feet on April 18. It may be recalled that the apartments with 960 tenements were being constructed by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board at Ammankulam to relocate families settled on water bodies in the city under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

While the expert committee, which had taken the soil for testing to find the cause for the sinking of the apartments on April 4, was yet to release the full report, another incident happened on Sunday causing fears over the safety of the other blocks under construction at the same site.

P.Rajkumar, leader of AIADMK councillors in the Coimbatore Corporation Council, MDMK councillor N Thangavel, CPI councillor K Purusothaman and BJP councillor TR Gomathirajan participated in the protest demonstration.

Rajkumar said that the Ammankulam site was rejected during the AIADMK regime. He said that even the public and councillors had opposed the DMK government move to construct multi-storey apartments at this site as it was part of a tank which had dried up a long ago.

He said the Corporation and the slum board ignored the public and councillors’ views and went ahead with the construction work. Hence, there was a need to conduct a CBI probe on why an unsuitable and rejected site was selected for construction, he added.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 April 2010 08:07

Animal sacrifice at civic body hq

Tuesday, 20 April 2010 05:54 administrator

Deccan Chronicle 20.04.2010

Animal sacrifice at civic body hq

April 20th, 2010

DC Correspondent

Tags: animal sacrifice, Salem municipal corporation, Yagna

April 19: A yagna allegedly involving animal sacrifice on Sunday night inside the Salem municipal corporation premises caused a flutter here on Monday.

Corporation employees and the public spotted blood stains on Monday that were apparently sprinkled after a pooja. Turmeric, kumkum powder and other ritualistic signs were also found but no one owned up to the incident.

It later transpired that a yagna was performed on Sunday night because the staff and some councillors were falling sick and the ritual was done to invoke divine help. However, no one was able to pinpoint the person or department which initiated the ritual.

Mayor J. Rekha Priyadharshini said she had not attended office for a week and was not involved in the yagna. She added that acc-ording to her inquiries, the contractor who was undertaking some building work inside the corporation had performed the yagna bec-ause the masons and other workers were frequently meeting with accidents during work. She admitted that the yagna had involved animal sacrifice.

She, however, could not explain why blood and ritual signs were found at the entrance, near the payment counters, at the entrances of all the offices. She said she would inquire into it.

Councillors seek demolition of tenements

Tuesday, 20 April 2010 05:33 administrator

The Hindu 20.04.2010

Councillors seek demolition of tenements

Special Correspondent

COIMBATORE: Coimbatore Corporation councillors belonging to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Communist Party of India, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam staged a demonstration on Monday at Ammankulam, where a multi-storeyed tenement under construction for slum dwellers sank on Sunday.

The councillors demanded that all the tenements being built now should be demolished immediately because the two incidents of sinking (on April 3 and April 18) only pointed out that the buildings were not safe for living.

CBI probe sought

Leader of the AIADMK in the Corporation Council and former North Zone Chairman of the Corporation P. Rajkumar said: “We demand a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the incidents of sinking because we suspect irregularities in the project in terms of the quality of construction.”

The Opposition was firm that the Central Government should depute a monitoring authority to Coimbatore to oversee the implementation of the Basic Services for the Urban Poor (BSUP) under which individual houses and multi-storeyed tenements were being constructed for slum dwellers.

The BSUP scheme was among the many infrastructure projects being implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. “As the Central Government meets 50 per cent of the project cost, it should go in for direct monitoring,” Mr. Rajkumar said.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) district secretary U.K. Vellingiri said in a statement that further construction at Ammankulam should be done only after ascertaining the quality of the buildings and the soil.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 April 2010 05:52

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