Tamil Nadu better than US and UK in flood management: Velumani

By Express News Service  |   Published: 01st November 2017 07:17 AM  |  

Image for representational purpose only.

CHENNAI: Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani on Tuesday claimed the Tamil Nadu government has made better arrangements than the United States and the United Kingdom in flood management in the State.

“Recently, Bengaluru faced heavy rain. Sometime ago, there were reports about floods in London and in the United States and that everything was floating there. But, in the State and in Chennai, we have made better arrangements for managing floods than the US and London (UK). Steps that have not been taken by even developed countries have been taken by the Tamil Nadu government. Late chief minister J Jayalalithaa had procured all modern equipment required for flood management and we have been praised for our works too,” the minister said while responding to media queries here after inspecting rain-affected areas.

Velumani said steps were being taken on a warfooting in all rural and urban local bodies. “Special attention is being paid to districts affected by heavy rain. IAS officers have been appointed to all 32 districts to monitor Northeast monsoon works. In Chennai alone, 17 IAS officers are monitoring rain-related works,” he said.

The minister fielded a volley of questions from mediapersons on rain-related incidents, particularly about water stagnation. Referring to the charges levelled by Leader of Opposition M K Stalin on problems faced by people in many areas due to heavy rain, he said, “making accusations are okay for the Opposition leader.” But it would be inappropriate for him to say that no preparatory work had been done to face the monsoon.

The situation was the worst during the DMK rule. In one particular year during the DMK rule, more than 1,400 places had water stagnation. At that point in time, water could not be drained for two weeks. “Now, that is not the situation, we have taken enough steps to remove stagnated water and move people affected in certain areas to safer places and provided them with basic needs,” he said.

Chennai’s home cooks prepare, deliver authentic dishes from all Indian cuisines

By Aathira Ayyappan | Express News Service | Published: 31st October 2017 10:06 PM |




CHENNAI: Two weeks into her love marriage, Savita (27) faced a problem. “I am a Tamilian and he is a Rajasthani. At first, he was okay eating South Indian fare I prepared at home. But as time passed, I could see that he was not really happy at meal times,” says the IT professional.

After a confrontation, he told her that he missed his mother’s food, particularly the dal chawal. “His parents stay in Rajasthan so it was understandable that he missed them, particularly his mother and her haath ka khana. We both work night shifts at the same office and totally hate restaurant food. So I knew I had to do something.”Gayathri ShreedharanThat’s when a friend recommended Rajasthani Homemade North Indian Jain Food Delivery Service. A lunch order and many satisfied burps later, her husband was a happy man again. “That is when I truly understood why they say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” she smiles.

Seal of authenticity

This delivery service based in TNagar is only one of the many ventures in the city that operate out of homes instead of commercial kitchens. “We serve 100% authentic and pure Rajasthani and Jain food. It is all prepared by my 88-year-old grandmother, Mena Jain, single-handedly at home,” says Prashanth Jain, who manages the delivery and packing along with his friends.

At present, they tend to only lunch, but also undertake special weekend orders.“The lunch thali consists of Farsan (snacks), soup, three phulkas, two sabzis, dal and rice. We also prepare traditional North Indian dishes that you will not find anywhere else in the city, like Mawa paratha, Dry fruit paratha, etc in the weekends or on special request,” he says.

All of two months old, it already boasts of 50 regular customers, all through word of mouth. “Whenever I come to Chennai on business, I make sure to order from Rajasthani Homemade as it reminds me of my mother’s cooking. I am very particular about eating food cooked by Jain cooks,” says Barath, a Vellore-based businessman.

It has only been two months since Ranjana Banerjee (52) started her Bengali homemade food delivery service in Mogappair West, but her customers already vouch for the authenticity of her dishes. “They tell me that my maach (fish) is almost as good as their moms,” she laughs. “We provide veg and non-veg thali for lunch, and roti-sabzi for dinner. I do all the cooking and my husband delivers them to nearby areas.”

Mixed clientele

“When we started out seven years ago with the blessings of Mahaperiyava, our primary aim was to cater to the elderly because we noticed that there were many old-aged couples in our neighbourhood who lived alone and did not prefer hiring a cook,” says Gayathri Shreedharan (41) who runs Akshaya S Homemade Food Delivery Services that delivers pure homemade Brahmin vegetarian breakfast, lunch and dinner in Choolaimedu, Kodambakkam, Mahalingapuram, Nungambakkam, and T Nagar and parts of Vadapalani.

“Our regular customers include both bachelors and family, but our primary customer segment is the elderly,” adds the chef who has hired two people for helping out in the kitchen, and delivering.
Shankari (50) runs a South Indian homemade food service in Velachery she has not named, exclusively for bachelors. “They do not eat healthy because most of them move to other cities for jobs and don’t stay with families.

I prepare traditional Tamil Nadu dishes like Siruthaniya, Kuthiravali, Kollu kanji, etc that I am sure many aren’t aware of,” she smiles. “Most of my clients are working professionals who have erratic schedules and do not want to eat unhealthy food from restaurants or even office canteens,” says Maheshwari (32) of Magi’s Kitchen, Ullagaram, that delivers vegetarian Brahmin lunch to nearby areas.
“I started this venture because cooking is my passion. I cannot stop even if I want to because my customers enjoy my food,” she beams, adding that she has 15 regular customers, for whom she personally cooks and delivers lunch and snacks on her two-wheeler.

Orders & customisations

Time is of essence when it comes to homemade food delivery ventures. “We need to receive orders at least a day in advance, so that we can meet the demand,” says Prashanth Jain. “This is especially the case when we have to make pure Jain food (no onion, garlic, carrots and potatoes), and special items like Sogra mooli ki sabzi (a radish dish), Daal dhokli (dumplings in pulses), and traditional sweets on request. They can customise their dishes.”

But this factor, however, is a major turn off for foodies. Asif Yahya, a marketing professional in the city, says, “Homemade delivery services are great hygiene-wise and they definitely send you on a nostalgic flavour trip, but they cannot satisfy my spontaneous hunger pangs…and so Swiggy it is!”

Call: Akshaya S (Brahmin food): 9789984231; Ranjana Banerjee (Bengali Food): 9841348743; Maheshwari (Brahmin food) : 9952063783; Shankari (Traditional Tamil fare): 9884082293;
Prashanth Jain (Rajasthani and Jain): 9841700022

POPULAR DISHES

North Indian Veg
(price range `80 to `170)
● Roti-Sabzi
● Dal Chawal
● Paratha varieties
(Aloo, Mooli, etc)
● Raita
North Indian Non Veg
(price range `150 to `180)


● Chicken curry meals

● Fish curry meals

Brahmin
(price range `65 to `95)
● Meals (consisting of rice, sambar, rasam, poriyal, koottu, papad, curd and pickle — all homemade)
● White pumpkin dosa and other varieties
● Adai varieties

Two girls electrocuted in Chennai, Tangedo suspends five officials

Sindhu Kannan| TNN | Updated: Nov 1, 2017, 18:27 IST

The girls were playing near a junction box (in pic) when the they were electrocuted

CHENNAI: Two girls, both aged eight years, were electrocuted when they jumped into stagnant rain water near an electricity junction box near their home at R R Nagar in Kodungaiyurhere on Wednesday afternoon. Another eight-year-old girl escaped as she avoided stepping into the stagnant water after seeing her friends falling into the water.

Police identified the victims as Bhavana and Yuvashri, both residents of F Block at R R Nagar. They were students of a nearby government school. The two girls and their friend Akshaya were playing, as it was a rain holiday for schools.

Bhavana and Yuvashri, who jumped into the stagnant water, might have stepped on a live power cable that lay under the water, a relative of one of the girls said. They suffered electric shock and fell unconscious.

Akshaya, who noticed her friends falling, avoided jumping into the water. Hearing Akshaya' cries, residents rushed to the spot.

They alerted police and TNEB officials. The power supply was disconnected. The girls were taken to Government Stanley Medical College and Hospital where they were declared brought dead.

Angry residents staged a protest condemning negligence on the part of officials. "Most junction boxes in the locality have been lying open for several months. There was no action on our complaints from officials," said B James, a resident.

Tangedo suspended five officials, including executive engineer Kumaresan, assistant divisional engineer Rajkumar and assistant engineer Dilli, for negligence.

HC dismisses PIL to name judges’ quarters after former CM MGR

TNN | Nov 1, 2017, 07:27 IST




CHENNAI: Asserting that it is not in the annals of judiciary to name any building, meant for their use, after the name of any prominent or political leaders, the Madras high court has dismissed a PIL seeking to name residential quarters of judicial officers in Egmore as 'Bharat Ratna Dr M G Ramachandran residential complex for judicial officers.'

"For maintaining a PIL, it must be shown that the government has failed to discharge its public duty or they have breached the well established procedures while discharging their public duty or there is any violation of any provisions of law or constitutional mandate in discharge of such duty. The petitioner also must show that there is violation or transgression of any law by the authorities and such violation warrants judicial interference.

In this case, we are of the firm opinion that the petitioner has not demonstrated that there is any infringement of any of his fundamental or legal right warranting our interference. Therefore, we refrain from entering into an arena, over which the state only has exclusive domain either to name or re-name any building," a division bench of Justices R Subbiah and A D Jagadish Chandira said.

According to the petitioner, senior advocate A E Chelliah, a scheme was drawn in 1978 for building residential quarters for the judicial officers in the cadre of sub judge and district judge at Egmore and Saidapet court premises. A foundation stone was also laid by the then Chief Justice of Madras high court Ramaprasad Rao, after that no tangible action was taken. But after J Jayalalithaa became the chief minister in 1993, she passed a government order sanctioning Rs 7.33 crore for the construction of the quarters.

Pointing out that several buildings are named after the departed souls who were instrumental in doing remarkable deeds, the petitioner said, "In view of the centenary birth anniversary of MGR the residential quarters should be named after him."

He further claimed that a representation made by him in this regard to the Registrar (Management) of the high court was rejected on February 22 prompting him to approach the high court.

Chitlapakkam waiting for an administrator

Pradeep Kumar| TNN | Nov 1, 2017, 08:10 IST

CHENNAI: With the state government in no mood to conduct local body polls, residents of Chitlapakkam have become a worried lot. The town panchayat in the southern suburb has been on 'auto-pilot' for the last two months, as the state government has failed to appoint a permanent executive officer (EO) to administer its affairs.

In the absence of an EO, who is equivalent to a special officer in a municipal corporation, Chitlapakkam residents complained that their grievances are going unattended. "The Perungalathur EO looks after Chitlapakkam as an additional responsibility. But he is rarely available at the town panchayat office," said P Viswanathan, a local resident.

According to official sources, a town panchayat department officer from Velloredistrict was appointed as Chitlapakkam EO more than 10 days ago. "But he has not yet been relieved from his post in Vellore due to unknown reasons," said a department official.

The Perungalathur EO, who has been handling the affairs of Chitlapakkam for nearly two months, told TOI that residents were exaggerating the situation. "Due to the dengue fever situation, my presence is required at the Kancheepuram collectorate frequently. This is the reason for my absence at Chitlapakkam on many days," he said.

But for residents like R Krishnamurthy of Anna Nagar, the situation is not so simple. "For instance, my street light is not functioning, I ring up the town panchayat office and registered a complaint. Since there is no permanent supervisory officer, the staff have become complacent. There is no accountability. Many times, the complaints are not registered or is only attended to after repeated calls and personal visits to the panchayat office," he said.

Meanwhile, the situation has also given rise to a political blame game between the incumbent MLA and a former MP with strong ties to Chitlapakkam. Residents recently called on Tambaram MLA S R Raja of the DMK in this regard. Speaking to TOI, Raja said former AIADMK MP Chitlapakkam Rajendran wields considerable influence in the area. "The officers who obey his instructions alone are allowed to work (in Chitlapakkam). Being an MLA, I can only request the government, which seems to be doing nothing," said Raja.

Rajendran denied the MLA's allegations. "I am neither an MLA nor an MP. How can I be accused of influencing anybody. This is merely a political attack to cover up his (Raja) failures," said Rajendran.

Central employees cannot move HC without approaching CAT, says HC

TNN | Nov 1, 2017, 07:29 IST




CHENNAI: The Madras high court has made it clear that employees of public sector undertaking or similar institutions defined as workmen under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, cannot approach the high court directly without approaching the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

Justice T Raja passed the order while dismissing a plea moved by D Inbavalli, an employee of State Bank of India (SBI), challenging the show cause notice issued to her. It was alleged that the petitioner, while serving as a special assistant in the bank's Koyambedu branch, was involved in misappropriation of Rs 1,000 belonging to a customer. Based on a complaint, the administration issued a charge memo on May 10, 2012.

Noting that the plea is not maintainable for various reasons, the judge said, "Firstly, the petition is not maintainable, for the simple reason that the petitioner being a workman under section 2(s) of the Act, has to approach the CAT, Chennai by rising a dispute after final order is passed by the employer.

That stage has not yet come. Secondly, CAT in the event of entertaining the industrial dispute, could go into the correctness of the charges, the fairness of enquiry and the quantum of punishment, if any, imposed on the petitioner. That stage also has not yet reached. Thirdly, the issuance of second show cause notice indicating the proposed punishment having been dispensed with by the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976, the writ petition is not maintainable under Article 226 of the Constitution of India."

We are fully prepared for rain, says Tamil Nadu government

TNN | Nov 2, 2017, 01:18 IST

Chennai: Amid allegation from the opposition about poor monsoon preparedness, the state government on Wednesday said it was fully prepared to meet any exigencies that may arise due to heavy rains and resultant flooding. The government said that 33,612 water bodies owned by the public works department and that of local bodies across the state, had been de-silted so far much ahead of the monsoon. Incidentally, the state fixed a target of over 45,000 water bodies under the kudimaramathu, the traditional maintenance scheme with the support of local community.

"The water bodies could retain 1.75tmcft (thousand million cubic feet of water). As many as 22,538 channels and inlets too have been de-silted, besides eviction of 7,030 encroachments in water bodies to ensure free flow of water," K Satyagopal, commissioner of revenue administration and disaster management said. Thrust has been given to remove blockages beneath bridges and culverts to ensure road connectivity undisrupted during rains. "We are fully prepared from the district collector to the officials at the field-level. Action is taken on a war-footing manner," he added.

The inter-departmental zonal teams have been set up in all the districts for undertaking relief measures at the earliest, the officer said. The team comprising members of police, fire service, rural development, agriculture and municipal administration will be closely monitoring situation and exigencies arising out of heavy rains. "Since the coastal districts are receiving heavy rains, the focus has been on them," another official said. Going by the legacy data, the state government identified 4,399 areas depending on vulnerability last year. These areas, including 207 identified this year, have been linked to nearby relief centres for timely evacuation of affected people.

Separate teams have also been deployed in relief centres to render necessary assistance. Ensuring community participation in the rescue and relief operations, 23,325 volunteers have been roped in and given training this year. This includes 6,740 women and fishermen. "In addition, we have four teams of National Disaster Response Force and another 1,200 personnel trained exclusively in State Disaster Response Force for rescue measures," Satyagopal said. The state has not requested pre-positioning of NDRF teams still, but monitoring the developments with the regional meteorology department, Chennai. Chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan took stock of the situation at a high-level meeting with line departments and defence recently at Secretariat and "directed better coordination among all."