Centre sanctions new Karaikal-Peralam line part of ₹177cr project

Centre sanctions new Karaikal-Peralam line part of ₹177cr project

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

30.07.2021

The Union railway ministry has sanctioned a 23km-long line to provide direct connectivity from Karaikal to Peralam as a part of the Trichy-Thanjavur-Nagore-Karaikal gauge conversion project at ₹177.69 crore, said Union railwaysminister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Karaikal is Puducherry’s enclave 150km south of its headquarters while Peralam is in Tiruvarur district.

In a written response to queries raised by Puducherry Lok Sabha MP V Vaithilingam in Parliament on Wednesday, Vaishnaw said the ministry submitted land acquisition proposals for 3.2 hectares to the Tamil Nadu government in September 2019 for the project.

He added that the ministry requested the government to expedite land acquisition and work is underway on available land.

To a query on expected time of completion of the project, the minister maintained that it cannot be ascertained at this stage of the project.

“Completion of a railway project depends on various factors like expeditious land acquisition by the state government, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project site, number of working months in a year for a particular project etc. and all these factors affect the completion time of project. As such, confirm completion time of the project cannot be ascertained at this stage,” the Vaishnaw said.

The Union railway ministry submitted land acquisition proposals for 3.2 hectares to the TN government in September 2019 for the project

Eminent doctor honoured

Eminent doctor honoured

30.07.2021  Times of India 

30.07.2021

Dr T S Chandrasekar, founder chairman and chief interventional gastroenterologist, MedIndia Hospitals, was appointed as honorarydistinguished professor of The Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University in recognition of his contribution to medical education. TNN

‘TN can reopen colleges for vaccinated kids’

‘TN can reopen colleges for vaccinated kids’

Online Classes Ineffective, Say Educationists

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:30.07.2021

Saying online classes were ineffective, educationists and academicians urged the state to consider reopening colleges for vaccinated students. They sought staggered reopening of colleges, vaccinating students and reopening schools for higher classes.

This follows higher education minister Ponmudi’s announcement on Wednesday that online classes for engineering, arts and science students, except for first year students, would commence on August 9.

Anna University former vice-chancellor E Balagurusamy said no learning takes place in online classes. “A majority of rural students cannot attend online classes as they have connectivity issues. Those who attend cannot fully understand the classes and use mobiles for other purposes. While the state government opened everything including Tasmac, hotels, markets and malls, why not colleges? Colleges should be allowed to conduct face-to-face classes from August while following all safety protocols,” he said.

Madras University former vice-chancellor S P Thyagarajan said a survey conducted across 30 countries found a 40% gap in learning in online mode. “The quality of material used also contributed to the deficit in learning. It is good to allow students 18 years and above to come to colleges. On campus vaccination camps should be allowed and classes can resume by following guidelines,” he said.

He added that students were facing psychological issues due to the pandemic and the institutions need to make them feel comfortable. "Parents also need counselling so they will not get in the way of children’s education,” he said.

Tamil Nadu Government Collegiate Teachers Association (TNGCTA) president T Veeramani said the decision should be based on scientific data. “There is a question of who will take responsibility if a Covid cluster emerge after reopening. If the government is ready to take that responsibility, they can reopen,” he said.

Dr P Kuganantham, former city health officer, said, vaccinated students should be allowed to attend classes. “Colleges can follow a shift system to maintain physical distance. The seropositivity rate is 84% for the city and 64% for the state. If we vaccinate more people by September, we can be hopeful for herd immunity for third wave,” he said.

6 months after N Chennai metro line opened, Theradi stn not ready

6 months after N Chennai metro line opened, Theradi stn not ready

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.07.2021

It has been nearly six months since seven of the eight metro stations commenced service in north Chennai, but Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) is yet to ready Thiruvottiyur Theradi, a station that is expected to boost footfalls.

The elevated station links the bazaar area in Thiruvottiyur and an ancient temple frequented by people from many of the city and the suburbs.

The station was initially expected to be ready in June and later by August, but on Thursday, workers were still busy on the platform level as both the interior and the exterior of the station looked unfinished. The station is one of the eight stations on the 9km Washermenpet to Wimco Nagar line. The station connects the road directly to the platform level through a staircase and does not have a concourse or ticketing level.

“Most likely, the station will be ready by the end of this year,” a worker at the site said. “By the time we get to the finishing work and the exterior, monsoon might start. That may affect our work,” the worker added. At present, metro trains skip past the station.

Officials said the delay in acquiring land for the station, change in alignment of the elevated corridor and back-to-back pandemic induced lockdowns resulted in the failure to meet the deadline.

The elevated viaduct leading to the station is at its highest level on the 9km phase-1 extension corridor at 17m from the road level. The elevation was made to allow movement of the temple chariot during the annual festival of a Pallava period temple in the area.

In June and July, the average footfalls in the seven north Chennai stations were 9,177, which is 21% of the average daily ridership of 44,852 across all 39 stations. When Theradi station opens, commuters said it could significantly boost the patronage.

Metro work near Porur slows traffic to crawl in peak hours

Metro work near Porur slows traffic to crawl in peak hours

Barricades in Middle Of The Road Create Bottleneck

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.07.2021

Traffic on the Mount-Poonamallee Road has slowed to a crawl as work has begun on the Poonamallee-Porur elevated corridor of the Chennai Metro’s phase-2.

Barricades have come up in the middle of the road at various points causing a traffic jam during the morning and evening peak hours. At least 1.75 lakh vehicles use the Mount-Poonamallee road every day.

Even vehicles going to places such as Maduravoyal, Red Hills, and Ambattur take this stretch. And with the road width being reduced for Metro piling work, traffic flow is hit. The worst stretch is between Porur and Iyyappanthangal.

“The Porur flyover brought some respite to the traffic woes and people were travelling hassle free for a couple of months. The traffic jam is worse between Porur junction and Kattupakkam during peak hours. Immediate measures have to be implemented to streamline the traffic,” said K Baskar, Tiruvallur resident-activist.

“Luckily many IT companies are still working from home and schools remain closed. The situation will not remain the same. The traffic congestion will turn worse when more vehicles start to flow in. Now I think the work will take at least five years to get completed,” says Palani, an employee of a private hospital in Iyyappanthangal.

“We will try to make it hassle-free for the public as much as possible. We are holding talks with the officials concerned. As of now there are no diversion plans as it is a wide road between Porur and Poonamallee. We will also get feedback from the public and bring in changes,” said a traffic police officer.

The Chennai Metro’s 118.9km phase 2 has three corridors and is expected to be completed by 2026. The three corridors are Poonamallee-Light House, Madhavaram-Sholinganallur, and Madhavaram-SIPCOT.

NEWS DIGEST

NEWS DIGEST

3 of 4-member gang with bomb, machetes, held

Three of a four-member gang that was moving around with a country-made bomb and machetes were nabbed during a vehicle check in Kancheepuram. One gang member managed to escaped. Police suspect them to have been targeting someone. The arrested are Kishore, 20, of Thirukachur, Alagesan, 26, of Anna Nagar, and Sivakumar, 19, of Kolathur. Police frisked them and recovered two machetes and one country-made bomb. Police have launched a hunt for the absconding suspect and are questioning the three.

2 robbed of gold chains:

Two women were robbed of their gold chains by two bikeborne men in different incidents at Maraimalai Nagar and Guduvancherry on Wednesday. At Guduvancherry, Susila, 58, was walking down the road at NGO Colony when a bike-borne duo snatched her 3.5sovereign gold chain and sped away. In the other incident, Amulya, 24, was walking home after buying groceries when two people on a bike snatched her five-sovereign gold chain and escaped. Police have registered two separate cases.

Govt teachers told to come to schools from Aug 2: The school education department has asked all the three lakh teachers working in government schools to report to work from August 2. A circular from the department said all teachers and headmasters from government primary, middle, high and higher secondary schools need to come to schools for admissions, preparing time-table, cleaning school campuses, to give assignments based on Kalvi TV lessons and to assess students. However, differently-abled, cancer survivors and those with kidney and heart ailments and teachers taking Covid-19 treatmentwill be exempted from coming to schools by respective CEO provided they submit relevant documents.

Murder of elderly solved:

Police have solved the murder of Anthony Mary, 60, with the arrest of a Alex, 42 who allegedly murdered her to steal her six-sovereign gold jewellery at Kasimedu.

Gods don’t ask us to encroach public land, build temples: HC

Gods don’t ask us to encroach public land, build temples: HC

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:30.07.2021 

Neither Jesus nor Lord Ayyappa nor Lord Ganesha comes and asks us to build temples, but it has become common among all religions to encroach upon public land and pedestrian spaces to construct temples, the Madras high court said on Thursday.

“Did they (gods) come knocking on our doors to build temples encroaching public land?” a division bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice T V Thamilselvi asked.

The court made the observations while hearing a plea moved by G Devarajan, a resident of Sembium, alleging that temples had been illegally constructed on pedestrian platforms and public roads in Otteri.

Admitting the plea, the bench directed Greater Chennai Corporation to inspect and ascertain the extent of encroachment made by such structures. The corporation has also been directed to file a report on action taken to remove the encroachment.

According to the petitioner, a 30-feet public road in Chellappa Street in Otteri has been encroached upon on both the sides by illegally constructing three temples – Shri Sithi Vinayagar Temple, Manimudi Maamari Aalayam, and Shri Ayyappan Sannithanam. Due to the encroachments, only 14 feet of the road is accessible to the public, he said.

The encroachment is hindering free flow of traffic on the busy road and emergency vehicles such as ambulances, fire trucks cannot pass through the road, he added.

Despite repeated representations, the corporation has failed to take any action to remove the illegalities. It appears that they have no intention to take any step for removal of any encroachment from the road or road margins, he said. The petitioner added that this is the situation despite the fact that the corporation has constituted a special task force to remove such encroachment and a monitoring committee has been established to monitor the same.