Hogenakkal water project picks up pace

THE TIMES OF INDIA, CHENNAI
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2010
Hogenakkal water project picks up pace
30 Lakh People In Dharmapuri And Krishnagiri To Benefit From The Scheme
V Palaniappan
Radha Venkatesan | TNN
Chennai: Less than a mile from
the picturesque Hogenakkal water falls, large boulders are being
blasted into smithereens. Amid the
sound of the splintering boulders,
finally, hope gushes for the waterstarved and fluorosis-hit people of
Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri in
western Tamil Nadu.
After an initial delay, construction of the master balancing
reservoir at Madam in Dharmapuri for Hogenakkal project, which
will supply Cauvery water to 30
lakh people of two districts
through a 494 km-long pipleline, is
going in full swing.
Though Cauvery water flows
through Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri, people are forced to depend
on groundwater which has a high
5
TIMES CITY/REGION
STRIVING TO MEET DEADLINE: Workers at the reservoir construction site
at Madam in Dharmapuri for the Hogenakkal water project
fluoride content, causing dental
and skeletal diseases.
Now the first allocation of funds
for Rs 1,928 crore scheme from the
Japan International Cooperation
Agency has been received. Package 1, which covers the crucial
head works of the project, is moving along rapidly and the scheme
would be completed within the next
To curb piracy, students to
be trained in maritime law
B A Raju
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai: In a bid to train students in maritime law, Union law minister Veerappa Moily
and Union shipping minster G K Vasan participated in a function for signing an MoU between Indian Maritime University (IMU) and
the National Law School of India University
(NLSIU), Bangalore, in Chennai on Sunday.
The institutions will collaborate in academics, faculty and student exchange, as well
as training and research. The IMU will offer
two elective subjects in maritime law to undergraduate students.
Piracy is becoming “increasingly problematic” and stringent laws and enforcement
are necessary to combat the threat, Union law
minister Veerappa Moily said on Sunday.
The menace had an impact on trade, while
also raising the spectre of an environment
problem. Above all, the safety of life at sea
and interests of the seafarers was important,
he said. A group of maritime law experts was
becoming increasingly necessary, he said.
Moily said the international maritime industry had seen a shift in recent years and India had also seen significant growth in terms
of its export potential. The laws must change
with time and for that the country needed a
strong group of maritime law experts and professionals to tackle the emerging problems in
maritime trade, Moily said.
Apart from piracy, manpower shortage and
sea pollution were the other major issues to
be tackled, he said. Noting that shipping
caused a lot of pollution in the sea, Moily
urged the maritime industry to recognise and
take appropriate measures to tackle it.
Also, Indian ports were suffering because
of labour conflicts, which could affect all the
JOINT VENTURE: (From left) Indian Maritime
University vice-chancellor P Vijayan, Union
shipping minister GK Vasan and Union law
minister Veerappa Moily at the MoU signing
event between Indian Maritime University and
NLSIU Bengaluru in Chennai on Sunday
development initiatives of the government,
Moily said. The labour unions should also find
ways to address the problem, he said.
Vasan said the IMU will soon sign an MoU
with the International Maritime Law Institute in Malta.
India has the human resources potential
to supply the manpower requirements of the
maritime industry across the world. Besides
mariners, there were job opportunities in
ports, shipping, insurance, transportation and
logistics as 90% of international trade was
through maritime.
IMU VC P Vijayan and NLSIU vice-chancellor R Venkata Rao signed the MoU in the
presence of the two ministers.
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30 months, according to the Tamil
Nadu Water and Drainage Board
(TWAD) chairman and managing
director Swaran Singh.
Close to the Hogenakkal falls,
a coffer dam is being created along
the Cauvery river for storing about
35 lakh litres of water. A pumping
station with six pumps is being
constructed to carry the water
from Hogenakkal to the Anchanahalli reserve forests, where
a treatment plant will come up.
From the treatment plant, water
will flow through stainless steel
pipelines across a 162 metre hillock
through a booster station to reach
Madam — the distribution station.
At Madam, workers of the IVRCL Co, which was awarded contract for Package I, are building
master balancing reservoir with
two storage sumps. “Concreting of
Youth murdered by
four-member gang
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai: A 22-year-old youth was hacked to
death on Sunday in a public park in Kodungaiyur by four men, who were allegedly loyal
to the brother of the girl that the youth was in
love with. The girl was a class XII student.
The police said S Shakthivelu of Nehru
Nagar in Kodungaiyur was asked by Tamil,
brother of his girlfriend, to come to the Vasuki Park at 4 pm to “discuss” marriage.
At 4 pm Tamil came to the park while
Shakthivelu was already waiting there. Suddenly, four unidentified men came on two separate vehicles. They pulled out sickles and
knives and Shakthivelu was hacked to death
in a flash and the assailants gone. Several locals, who arrived at the park with children
VICTIM SUFFERED MORE THAN
14 INJURIES ON HIS BODY
to spend the evening, witnessed the murder.
Soon, the police rushed there and took the
youth to Stanley Medical College Hospital
where he was declared dead.
Pulianthope deputy commissioner of police N Baskaran and other officials visited
the scene. “Four special teams have been
formed to nab the assailants and we hope to
nab them by tonight. The victim was inflicted with more than 14 cut injuries all over his
body. This appears to be a job of professionals,” a senior police officer said.
The police said Shakthivelu, a worker in
a shop which rents out construction equipment, had fallen in love with the girl while
in school. Divya’s family members came to
know about it and warned Shakthivelu. The
latter, however, didn’t listen and continued
meeting the girl which ultimately led to his
murder, the police said.
reservoir will begin from Monday,”
said an engineer.
Work orders have been issued
for Package II which involves laying 83-km long stainless steel leakproof pipes from Madam to
Uthangarai for the supply of water to 1,675 rural habitations. Tenders have been finalised for Package III, in which the water pipelines
branch off at Moongalpatti to supply water to Harur, Morappur and
Pappireddipatti.
Re-tendering has been ordered
for Package IV, which involves laying 67 km pipeline from the plains
of Palacode to the hilly areas of
Hosur through four booster stations to pump the water across the
gradient. As the bidders had quoted as high as 80% for Package IV,
a re-tendering has been ordered,
an official said.
Woman commits suicide
Chennai: A 42-year-old woman committed suicide by hanging at her residence in
Kottivakkam on Saturday soon after her lawyer husband popped an overdose of sleeping pills, allegedly after an argument. The woman died while her husband is battling
for life. The police said Shanthi and her husband Prabhakaran, who practises at the
Madras HC, fought after which the latter consumed sleeping pills. The wife decided to
end her life and hanged herself from the ceiling. Neighbours alerted the police who
sent the body to a hospital for autopsy. Prabhakaran was taken to a corporate hospital
where doctors said he had to be under intensive care for the next 24 hours. TNN
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Madurai weavers
to go on strike
Madurai: With yarn prices
shooting up again, weavers in
Madurai have decided to go on
a hunger strike on April 15 to
draw the Centre’s attention.
Price of yarn has gone up by
30 to 40% over the last one
month, leaving the weavers in
a spot. A five kilogram bundle
of thread used for manufacturing towels have gone up
from Rs 560 to Rs 760.
In the weavers’ hub of Sellur in Madurai, agitated workers demanded an immediate
ban on export of yarn from India which led to the spiralling
of prices in the domestic market. The Centre should take
steps to control rising price of
yarn to protect the weaving industry, the Sellur Handloom
Cloth Manufacturers Association said. TNN
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