Water supply project irks Madambakkam residents

It is expected to draw 20 lakh litres of water per day.

Published: 16th February 2019 01:54 AM 

The 240-acre lake is a seasonal lake 

 Ashwin Prasath

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The residents of Madambakkam have filed four public interest litigation petitions pointing out the irregularities about the water supply project being undertaken in the area — one each in November and July, and two in October 2018. The `3 crore-project involves digging of 40-feet deep wells in the Madambakkam lake area and laying of pipelines of six-km length up to Chitlapakkam town panchayat. It is expected to draw 20 lakh litres of water per day.
However, despite the litigations, work is on in full swing and almost 70 per cent of the project has been completed.


“The 240-acre lake is a seasonal lake, which means that the lake only gets filled during the rainy season, and there is no stream from which it gets water. Already, 40 per cent of the lake is eaten up by encroachments and if wells are dug in the remaining water body, there won’t be any groundwater left,” said A Krishnan, a member of Madambakkam Lake Committee, which was formed in June 2018 to save the lake.

Of the 20 lakh litres that will be drawn every day, the project proposes to supply 18 lakh litres to Chitlapakkam town panchayat and two lakh litres to Madambakkam. This decision has been taken because of a faulty report submitted to the Public Works Department (PWD) for the NOC, allege locals. 

One of the locals, on condition of anonymity said, “The agricultural land as per patta is spread across 1,200 acres, but it has been shown in the report as 204 acres. Due to this, the groundwater requirement of the area has been shown low. Also, Madambakkam population is only three-four per cent lesser than Chitlapakkam, then why such a big difference in water supply? The lake measurements are also faulty.”

Adding to this, Krishnan said Chitlapakkam has four lakes in a two-km radius including Chitlapakkam, Sembakkam, Selayur and Rajakilpakkam. “Water can be drawn from those lakes instead of laying six-km pipelines up to Madambakkam,” he said.

The officials of the local town panchayat did not want to comment as the issue has been taken up by the court. The residents will hold an expert session on February 16 on adverse affects of digging wells within the lake.

Make My Trip fined Rs 55K for rejection of tour visa
Hence the complainant is entitled for a refund that the opposite party has refused to pay, which is a clear case of unfair trade,” said the forum.

Published: 17th February 2019 01:39 AM

CHENNAI: For not submitting proper documents to the Visa Facilitation Centre due to which visa was rejected for two passengers who had booked a holiday to France, a consumer forum has directed booking agency Make My Trip to pay a fine of Rs 55,000 to the complainant. It also directed the agency to refund the visa charges and advance of Rs 59,200 paid by the complainant.

In November 2016, Vinod Paul of Choolaimedu paid Rs 45,000 as advance to Make My Trip for a holiday package to travel to France and Switzerland along with his wife. But, due to the lack of sufficient number of tourists, the trip was postponed by the company by a week for which the complainant had to submit all documents again.

“Our Visa was rejected on grounds of improper documentation. When we approached the company’s agents they said they were not responsible for the visa centre’s decision. Also, we had to shell out Rs 14,200 for sitting for the interview. If they had not rescheduled the trip, our visa wouldn’t have been rejected,” said Vinod in his complaint.

In its defence, Make My Trip said that as no fee was charged by them for processing of visa, cancellation or rejection of visa cannot be termed deficiency in service. “Acceptance or rejection of visa is the sole discretion of the concerned embassy. The opposite parties have no control or say on the acts of the airlines or the embassies.The opposite parties had clearly performed all its duties with due diligence,” it said.


North Chennai Consumer Disputes Redressal forum observed that when Make My Trip changed the tour dates, they had wrongly stated New Delhi as the departure location instead of Chennai in the forms submitted to the visa centre. Due to this error, the visa was rejected, the forum said. “Also, the visa rejection came well within 20 days of the trip. Hence the complainant is entitled for a refund that the opposite party has refused to pay, which is a clear case of unfair trade,” said the forum.

New VC for MSU assumes office

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

TIRUNELVELI, FEBRUARY 17, 2019 00:00 IST

K. Pitchumani, new Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, assumed office here on Saturday.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research emeritus scientist at School of Chemistry in Madurai Kamaraj University, he has become ninth Vice-Chancellor of MSU as the tenure of his predecessor K. Baskar ended on Friday.

Earlier, he garlanded the statue of Manonmaniam Sundaranar on the MSU’s main campus at Abhishekapatti.

Beela Rajesh is new Health Secy, Prakash to head Chennai Corpn.

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 17, 2019 00:00 IST



J. Radhakrishnan

State government carries out reshuffle covering a wide range of posts, from Additional Secretaries to District Collectors

As part of a major reshuffle of IAS officers, the State government on Saturday transferred Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan as Transport Secretary.

Mr. Radhakrishnan has been Health Secretary for the past seven years, and was in the news recently after some adverse comments by the Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry, looking into the death of Jayalalithaa. Beela Rajesh, who is currently Commissioner, Indian Medicine and Homeopathy, has been posted as Health Secretary.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, Chennai and Coimbatore Corporation Commissioners D. Karthikeyan and Vijayakarthikeyan, who have been holding the posts for over three years, have been shifted out. While Mr. Karthikeyan switches places with G. Prakash, who is currently Commissioner, Municipal Administration, Mr. Vijayakarthikeyan has been posted as Director, T.N. Institute of Urban Studies in Coimbatore.

T.N. Hariharan, Coimbatore Collector, has been posted as Special Secretary, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department.

Tiruchirappalli Collector K. Rajamani will replace him as Coimbatore Collector.

Besides posting Beela Rajesh as the Health Secretary in place of J. Radhakrishnan, the Tamil Nadu government on Saturday transferred several bureaucrats from various departments across the State.

J. Kumaragurubaran, Inspector General of Registration, has been transferred and posted as Director of Disaster Management. Ka. Balachandran, Principal Secretary to Government, Commercial Taxes and Registration Department, will hold full additional charge of the post of Inspector General of Registration until further orders.

P. Uma Maheswari, Project Director of the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, Chennai, has been transferred and posted as Collector of Pudukkottai district.

S. Nagarajan, Additional Secretary to Government, Health and Family Welfare Department, will hold full additional charge of this post.

D. Karthikeyan, Commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation, has been transferred and posted as Commissioner, Municipal Administration. G. Prakash, who was the Commissioner, Municipal Administration, is now the Commissioner of Greater Chennai Corporation.

Tiruchi Collector K. Rajamani has been transferred and posted as Coimbatore Collector. Up until now the Coimbatore Collector, T.N. Hariharan has been posted as Special Secretary to Government, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department in the cadre post.

S. Sivarasu, Joint Commissioner (Enforcement), Commercial Taxes, Coimbatore, has been posted as Tiruchi Collector.

T. Anand, Joint Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board, has been posted as Tiruvarur Collector.

Current Tiruvarur Collector L. Nirmalraj will take charge as Joint Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board.

K. Vijayakarthikeyan, Commissioner, Coimbatore Corporation, has been transferred and posted as Director, Tamil Nadu Institute of Urban Studies, Coimbatore.

S. Ganesh, who was the Collector of Pudukkottai district, has been posted as Director, Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy.

Pollachi Sub-Collector B. Gayathri Krishnan has been transferred and posted as Joint Commissioner (Enforcement), Commercial Taxes, Coimbatore.

S. Jayandhi, Chairperson, Teachers Recruitment Board, will take charge as Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Text Book Corporation. Sravan Kumar Jatavath, Sub-Collector, Tirupur, is now the Commissioner for Coimbatore Corporation.

S. Aneesh Sekhar, Commissioner of the Corporation of Madurai, is now the Executive Director of the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO). S. Visakan, who is currently the Executive Director, TIDCO, will take charge as Commissioner of Madurai Corporation.

Corpn. Commissioners

Alby John Varghese, Commissioner, Corporation of Thoothukudi, has been appointed as Regional Deputy Commissioner (South), Greater Chennai Corporation, while Gopala Sundara Raj, who held this portfolio, has been transferred to the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board as its Joint Managing Director and Project Director for the World Bank and Asian Development Bank Projects. V.P. Jeyaseelan, Deputy Secretary to Government, Housing and Urban Development Department, has been made the Commissioner of the Corporation of Thoothukudi.

Subodh Kumar, Regional Joint Commissioner (Central), Greater Chennai Corporation, has been made the Joint Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco).

This portfolio was held by P.N. Sridhar, who has now been made Regional Joint Commissioner (Central) of Greater Chennai Corporation.

It’s now easier for students with special needs to get passports

Sanjana Ganesh

MADURAI, FEBRUARY 17, 2019 00:00 IST

A. S. Harish Jaidev, a student with special needs, is flying to Malaysia to take part in a yoga competition in May. Though autistic, he is excited about taking part in the contest and is looking forward to his first international trip.

However, there’s a glitch. Harish does not have a passport yet.

“It is difficult for students with special needs to be seated in one place for more than 10 minutes. They often become restless. This becomes an impediment while visiting the passport seva kendra,” says Andavar P. Jaidev, Harish’s father and Principal of Sparks Vidyalaya.

He adds that other special children taking part in the yoga contest from his school, also do not have passports.

In a bid to find a solution, parents of students with special needs gathered at the Madurai Group Living Foundation (MGLF) and sought permission from the regional passport office to have a special mela.

On Saturday, the doors of the passport office were open to 102 students with special needs to facilitate easy procurement of the passport.

“In the past, we have tried to accommodate students with special needs by providing them time slots where there are few people but I realise that it is rare for parents to bring these kids forward on a regular working day. Many parents may also not be able to reach me on particular days. This would mean that they would have to go through an elaborate process by themselves,” says T. Arun Prasad, Regional Passport Officer.

He adds that parents have complained of inhibitions when it comes to bringing their child to the office as their repetitive behaviour may disturb the atmosphere.

“Students with special needs also do not particularly cooperate when their pictures or biometrics need to be taken. On weekdays, the process is usually hurried and they would lose the opportunity to try again. By opening the office on Saturday exclusively for them, it would ease the pressure,” he says.

Mr. Prasad adds that he has made documentation easier as well.

“The passport of a minor usually mandates signature from both parents. Here we have relaxed it. Similarly, minor children must produce education certificates. We have not sought these documents from the parents. The parents can sign on behalf of the child as well,” he says.

A. Chandrasekaran, Managing Trustee, MGLF, says that the mela has come as a respite for parents of students with special needs. He says that the need for procuring passport is slowly reaching the community. “If more melas are held, a lot of our children will have a little more empowerment,” Mr. Chandrasekaran says.

Mr. Prasad says that the department is open to hosting more such events if there is a demand.

Academics worried over failure to fill top positions in Bharathiar University

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

COIMBATORE, FEBRUARY 17, 2019 00:00 IST

Vice-Chancellor’s post lying vacant since February 2018

Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, Controller of Examination, Director, Department of Distance Education, Director, Academic Staff College, Public Relations Officer and Dean – are the top positions in Bharathiar University that are vacant or without persons occupying the post full time, and this has the academic community worried.

The Vice-Chancellor’s post has remained vacant ever since the inglorious exit of A. Ganapathi in February 2018 and the other positions are occupied by persons who hold those additional posts.

Running the university with people in-charge of important posts is a disease that has afflicted Bharathiar University, laments, N. Pasupathy, vice- president, Association of University Teachers. The powers of the people, who occupy the posts, are limited and for every important decision they will have to take on matters before them, the occupants of the post take up the issue with the superiors and this leads to inordinate delay.

What is worse now is that the nobody seems to know why the posts remain so and the university is not forthcoming, either. “The university called for applications to fill up the aforementioned posts except that of the Vice-Chancellor. But what happened to the applications – whether or not the university has conducted interviews and if it has, why has it not published the list of short listed candidates remains unclear,” says Mr. Pasupathy.

He also slams the State Government for the delaying in appointing a person to the committee to select the next Vice- Chancellor. “The Syndicate has elected its nominee and so has the Senate. Now it is for the Government to appoint its nominee and it has been delaying, which is condemnable.”

One of the recent issues that has cropped up because of the in-charge syndrome is the one concerning a Syndicate member who has crossed 62 years of age. Though the rules say that a person who has crossed 62 years of age cannot remain a self-financing college principal and therefore cannot be a member of the Syndicate, the university has allowed him to continue as a principal but not attend the Syndicate meeting, he adds.

A Syndicate member, on condition of anonymity, accuses the university of remaining opaque when asked about such issues. In response to a member’s question seeking details of those who has applied for the posts advertised for and the action taken on those applications, the university has not responded, he rues.

It is only the Bharathiar University that is facing such a situation, rues president of the association of self-financing arts, science and management colleges, Ajeet Kumar Lal Mohan. Failure to appoint persons in the next few weeks to occupy the posts full time will only lead to further delay as the university or Government cannot proceed if the Model Code of Conduct comes into effect.

Bharathiar University Registrar in-charge B. Vanitha says that different committees have to be constituted to select persons to the six posts and it is for the Vice-Chancellor committee and the Government to take a call on it.

A Vice-Chancellor committee member says that the ball is in the Government’s court and it has to act fast.

Seize passport of defaulter, High Court tells bank

Legal Correspondent

CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 17, 2019 00:00 IST

KAPL moves court against a firm withwhich it had a business agreement

Taking serious note of a series of cases related to bank loan defaulters flying abroad without discharging their liabilities, the Madras High Court has directed a nationalised bank to take possession of the passport of a loan defaulter whose pharmaceutical firm owed over Rs. 755 crore to the financial institution.

Justice S. Vaidyanathan issued the direction while passing interim orders on a company application filed by Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals (KAPL), a central public sector enterprise, against Arvind Remedies, a company under liquidation, situated at SIDCO industrial estate Kakkalur in Tiruvallur district.

KAPL had sought a direction to Punjab National Bank and an Official Liquidator to hand over its raw materials, packaging materials and finished products that were lying on the premises of Arvind Remedies.

On going through the case papers, the judge found that KAPL had entered into an agreement with Arvind Remedies in 2016.

As per the agreement, KAPL agreed to supply approved drugs in bulk along with packaging materials to Arvind Remedies, which had the obligation of turning them into finished products and supplying them to KAPL.

It was also claimed that the agreement was entered into without being aware of the poor financial situation of Arvind Remedies.

Two government organisations are fighting while the white-collared criminals are trying to escape