writingonblog uncensored: Chennai losing open space as TN fails to notify it...

writingonblog uncensored: Chennai losing open space as TN fails to notify it...: C Shivakumar @ Chennai: Chennai's green cover has come down drastically with the rise in concrete jungle and it has lost more than ...

Chennai losing open space as TN fails to notify it under Act

C Shivakumar @ Chennai:

Chennai's green cover has come down drastically with the rise in concrete jungle and it has lost more than one-fifth of the greenery in the last 20 years, according to various studies.

According to a Comptroller and Auditor General Report released recently, the concrete jungle rose from 90.88 sqkm in 1979 to 541.14sqkm in 2016 as Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) allowed blatant land use conversions resulting in shrinkage of water bodies and reduction in lung space due to vanishing greenery and open space.

K P Subramanian, former urban engineering professor with College of Engineering blamed the failure on the part of the government to notify open spaces under The Tamil Nadu Parks, Play-Fields and Open Spaces (Preservation and Regulation) Act, 1959.  “All the open spaces have to be notified under the act which will even make it difficult to convert the open space for other purposes,” said the professor.

He also said that the land use zoning regulation should have been strictly enforced under the Second Master Plan to have more open space.

Interestingly, the area under water bodies and vegetation came down from 100.98 sqkm to 91.31sqkm and 548.53 to 442.43sqkm respectively highlighting that CMDA planners were not prepared for such a growth of Chennai.

While the First Master Plan and Second Master Plan projected a total increase in built-up area by 330.58sqkm (33,058 hectare) over the 50 year period between 1976 to 2026, the actual increase in built up area as worked out using satellite imageries over 37 years period between 1979 and 2016 was 450.26 sqkm pointing to large-scale illegal constructions.

Association of Professional Town Planners (APTP) president K M Sadanand stressed on the need to use open spaces for Children’s playground and developing it for greenery related activities. He also highlighted that OSR encroached upon should be restored and all Open Space are should be uploaded online.

Similarly, a report published in Journal of Indian Society of Remote sensing by Dr TV Ramachandra and Dr Bharath H Aithal from the Centre for Ecological Sciences at Indian Institute of Science has stated The area under vegetation declined from 70 % to 48 % with urbanization increasing from 1.46 % to about 18.5 %.

Interestingly, K P Subramanian says that with the expansion of Chennai Metropolitan Area, there will be more unbuilt space and the Master Plan should ensure that unbuilt open space is conserved.

writingonblog uncensored: TN’s proposed PCPIR could be a non-starter as anc...

writingonblog uncensored: TN’s proposed PCPIR could be a non-starter as anc...: C Shivakumar @ Chennai: The proposed Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) spread over 23,000 hectares across...

TN’s proposed PCPIR could be a non-starter as anchor company enters liquidation process

C Shivakumar @ Chennai:
The proposed Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) spread over 23,000 hectares across 45 villages in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts, which was expected to attract total investment of Rs 92,160 crore, could be a non starter as the potential anchor company of the project is undergoing liquidation process, official sources said.
While official sources have refused to term the project as having been shelved, they point out that it could be a non-starter as the Rs 4,700 crore Nagarjuna Oil Refinery Project at Cuddalore has entered the liquidation process under Insolvence and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
Nagarjuna Oil, backed by Nagarjuna group, Tatas and Trafigura, a Singaporean multinational commodity trading planned to set up six metric tonnes per annum oil refinery in Cuddalore. The project was later considered an anchor client for PCPIR by the state government to the Centre which too accepted and declared Cuddalore zone as PCPIR region in 2012.
Interestingly, last year the state government has declared 23,000 hectares of land across 45 villages in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts as PCPIR and eyed Rs 1,146 crore for improving infrastructure such as rail and roafd connectivity in the region. A notification was issued by housing and urban development department on July 19, 2017 for delineation of 45 villages in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts as PCPIR as Local Planning Area under Section 10 of the Tamil Nadu Town and country Planning Act.
Interestingly, last week the Minister of State for Planning (IC) and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Rao Inderjit Singh has said that Centre has identified four PCPIRs namely Dahej (Gujarat), Vishakhapatnam–Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), Paradeep (Odisha) and Cuddalore and Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu). As per Detailed Project Reports (DPRs), the projected investment on full realization of PCPIRs is Rs. 7.63 lakh crore and employment generation is expected for around 33.96 lakh persons (direct and indirect).
He said the actual investment committed in Tamil Nadu PCPIR is Rs 8100 crore and actual employment for 13,950 persons is to be generated. But now with the project in limbo, will the state identify alternate player for the PCPIR region or shelve it with protests from environmentalists. Officials parried the question.

List of PCPIRs:

1. Dahej, Gujarat

Total area: 453.00 sqkm

2. Vishakhapatnam–Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh

Total area: 640.00 sqkm

3. Paradeep, Odisha

Total area: 284.15 sqkm

4. Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu

Total area: 256.83 sqkm

writingonblog uncensored: TNCZMA reconstituted; To hold first meeting on Fri...

writingonblog uncensored: TNCZMA reconstituted; To hold first meeting on Fri...: CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Coastal Zone management Authority, which has been reconstituted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Ch...

TNCZMA reconstituted; To hold first meeting on Friday

CHENNAI:

Tamil Nadu Coastal Zone management Authority, which has been reconstituted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, will be holding its 101st meeting on Friday.

The meeting assumes significance as it being held after the Union Ministry of Environment reconstituted the authority with seven members, four expert members and a non-governmental agency chaired by environment secretary last month.

 Other than the chairman, its includes director of environment, who will the ex-officio member secretary, commissioner of town and country planning, commissioner of fisheries, member secretary Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority member secretary and regional director of Central Ground Water Board as members.

The experts in the authority include director of Institute of remote Sensing, Anna University, S S Ramakrishnan, Conservator of Forests (retd) Dr S Paulraj, Group head-Ocean Observation systems, National institute of Ocean technology (NIOT) dr R Venkatesan, and director of Centre for Environment, Health and Safety, Annamalai university Dr Nehru Kumar Vaithilingam.

Dr V Selvam, executive director of M S Swaminathan Research foundation is non-government organization member.

As per the new order reconstituting TNSCZMA, the authority to maintain transparency has been mandated creating a dedicated website and post the information relating to its functions, including agenda of its meetings, minutes of the meetings, decision taken in each meetings, recommendations on matters on violations and contravention and actions taken on it, court orders and approved Coastal Zone Management Plan.

The reconstituted authority has been asked to approve project proposals in accordance with Coastal zone management Plan and within coastal regulation Zone notification within 60 days from the receipt of such application.

writingonblog uncensored: Mid-night or early morning wake-up calls was not u...

writingonblog uncensored: Mid-night or early morning wake-up calls was not u...: CHENNAI: Former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was particular on ensuring all his decisions are implemented and he will pursue it till the ...

Mid-night or early morning wake-up calls was not unusual during Karuna regime, recall bureaucrats

CHENNAI:

Former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was particular on ensuring all his decisions are implemented and he will pursue it till the end and one could expect even a midnight wake-up call from him asking about the status of project or implementing the order, recall bureaucrats, who worked with him.

K S Sripathi, former chief secretary under then Karunanidhi regime, says that the former chief minister was keen on development of the infrastructure of the state and the current airport expansion which is happening was approved during his period despite issues pertaining to acquisition of defence land. "He never interfered with the officialdom and was keen to get the things done," said Sripathi.

During my tenure there was a false tsunami alert. “I got a call from him at 1am. He used call me CS Sir. He wanted me to alert the district collectors. At that time he was unwell also,” recalls Sripathi. Even during the floods in 2009, he waited for me to reach Gopalapuram from my abode in Mogappair. “He was a pragmatic person and I cherish those moments working with him,” the former chief secretary said.

Sripathi says although there are rumours that Karunanidhi was anti-Brahmin or anti-Hindutva, he never showed such attitude in work and I am a example being from one of the community.

Former Tamil Nadu health secretary V K Subburaj, who is now member of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), recalled the health insurance scheme implemented during DMK regime and how it was mooted by Karunanidhi. "The then chief minister was following the health insurance scheme in Andhra Pradesh and one fine day dispatched me immediately to Andhra Pradesh to study the model and replicate it in the state. After studying it, I said it would cost Rs 650 crore to the exchequer to which he said finance is not a constraint and asked it to be implemented immediately," said Subburaj.

He also recalled a meeting with secretaries when the former chief minister came and whispered in his ears. One of the secretary was keen to know what transpired. “I was warned that if a person dies without getting access to doctor or hospital or due to shortage in medicines, it will be a big insult to Chief Minister," said Subburaj.

Subburaj also recalled how particular was Karunanidhi in implementing his orders. "The doctors sought increase in salaries and were planning to go on strike the next day. It was at 7.30pm, I got a call asking about whether the file pertaining to rise in doctors salaries have been cleared. I told him that it was with the minister. Immediately, he summoned the minister who was travelling near Chengalpattu by train to his home with the file," Subburaj recalled.


"By 8.30pm, the minister came with the file. Karunanidhi approved the file and asked us to prepare the press note at his residence downstairs immediately. It was by 10pm, we finished the press note after which he gave his concurrence. But that was not all. He wanted us to ensure it reached all the media. At 11.30pm, he went upstairs and after five to 10 minutes he came down. The Murasoli has got the press release. Now you can go,” recalls Subburaj.

“Working with him was pleasure. He is a very demanding person. He ensures all decisions are implemented,” said Subburaj adding that his demise is a great loss to the state and nation

writingonblog uncensored: Seven new bus stands for ULBs to cost Rs 237 cr

writingonblog uncensored: Seven new bus stands for ULBs to cost Rs 237 cr: Chennai: Tamil Nadu government has given approval to Commissioner of Municipal Administration’s proposal to  construct seven bus stand...

Seven new bus stands for ULBs to cost Rs 237 cr

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu government has given approval to Commissioner of Municipal Administration’s proposal to  construct seven bus stands in seven urban local bodies at a cost of Rs 237.06 crore.

The bus stands will come up in Kancheepuram, Thiruthani, Mayiladuthurai, Dharmapuri, Namakkal, Tiruvanamalai and Tindivanam.

The bus stands will be constructed through public private partnership on design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis.

Under this the required bus infrastructure will be constructed with full investment by the private agencies and will be maintained by them for 15 to 20 years.

Sources said that this relieve the financial burden on the urban local bodies and will reduce the cost on operation and maintenance considerably.

According to official sources, the commissioner of municipal administration has urged the construction of new bus stands in seven urban local bodies since the existing bus stand was constructed long ago.

As the towns were rapidly growing with bus stands situated at the heart of the town, the approach roads became heavily congested resulting in the need to ease the vehicular congestion and ensure proper flow of traffic.

Of the proposed seven bus stand, an outlay of Rs 51.63 crore is required to build bus stand for Namakkal while Rs 39.14 crore is required to build Dharmapuri bus stand.

Similarly, it is estimated that to build Kancheepuram and Mayiladuthurai bus stands, a sum of Rs 38 crore is required while for Tiruvanamalai it will cost Rs 30 crore. The cost to build Thirutani and Tindivanam bus stands is expected to cost Rs 20 crore.

While the government has approved the proposal, it has asked the Commissioner of Municipal Administration to get approval of Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board for project structuring and bid documents.

 Factfile:

1.  Name of urban local body: Kancheepuram

Estimated project cost for bus stand: Rs 38.09 cr

2.  Name of urban local body: Thirutani

Estimated project cost for bus stand: Rs 20 cr

3.  Name of urban local body: Mayiladuthurai

Estimated project cost for bus stand: Rs 38.05 cr

4.  Name of urban local body: Dharmapuri

Estimated project cost for bus stand: Rs 39.14 cr

5.  Name of urban local body: Namakkal

Estimated project cost for bus stand: Rs 51.63 cr

6.  Name of urban local body: Tiruvannamalai

Estimated project cost for bus stand: Rs 30.15 cr

7.  Name of urban local body: Tindivanam

Estimated project cost for bus stand: Rs 20 cr

Total cost: Rs 237.06 cr

writingonblog uncensored: ED attaches 24 immovable properties belonging to P...

writingonblog uncensored: ED attaches 24 immovable properties belonging to P...: Chennai: Enforcement Directorate has attached 24 immovable properties worth Rs 34 crore belonging to Tiruchengode-based Pavai Alloys a...

ED attaches 24 immovable properties belonging to Pavai Alloys and Steel

Chennai:

Enforcement Directorate has attached 24 immovable properties worth Rs 34 crore belonging to Tiruchengode-based Pavai Alloys and Steel under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The properties were attached after Enforcement Directorate launched investigation against the firm following chargesheet filed by Central Bureau of Investigation in Bengaluru against Pavai Alloys and Steel and its five directors.

Joint Director of Enforcement Directorate P Manikkavel said that investigations against the company revealed that it had fraudulently availed loan based on fabricated or fake balance sheets and defrauded Indian bank, Tiruchengode to the tune of Rs 42.17 crore.

Ten immovable properties located in Coimbatore and Namakkal district in the name of director of Pavai Alloys and Steels worth Rs 23.50 crore were identified and attached as per the provisions of PMLA act.

Similarly, fourteen more immovable properties kept in the name of children of the directors of the company worth Rs 10.50 crore were attached

writingonblog uncensored: Cost over-run of 1,332 Central projects is Rs 2.23...

writingonblog uncensored: Cost over-run of 1,332 Central projects is Rs 2.23...: CHENNAI: There are 1,332 Union government projects which cost above Rs 150 crore and the cost over-run is Rs 2.23 lakh crore which is ...

Cost over-run of 1,332 Central projects is Rs 2.23 lakh cr, says expert

CHENNAI:

There are 1,332 Union government projects which cost above Rs 150 crore and the cost over-run is Rs 2.23 lakh crore which is 14 per cent more than the original cost, according to a expert from American Association of Cost Engineering.

Quoting the statistics from data published by by Ministry of Statistics and Program, S Sankar, Chair-India Task Force for American Association of Cost Engineering (AACE), International, chair India Task Force and COO of Karle Infra Private Limited said that 253 of the projects are delayed and data does not include projects less than Rs 150 crore, state government projects, corporations, municipalities and private sector.

“While some projects are impacted due to external factors which are beyond the control of the implementing agencies such as land acquisition, regulatory approvals, etc., majority of projects are delayed by factors which can be controlled at the project level through proper planning and project management,” he said while speaking at a national level conference organized by IIT Madras and ACE International’s South India Section.

He said the studies conducted by KPMG also highlights severe skill shortage and growing demand and supply gap of qualified construction professionals in India.  This also results in a high competency shortfall and a wide gap in the project management maturity between West and India, he said.

The conference threw light on the complex nature of megaprojects which make them inherently risky due to long planning horizons and complex interfaces.

writingonblog uncensored: Thoothkudi sole city from TN to have high levels o...

writingonblog uncensored: Thoothkudi sole city from TN to have high levels o...: CHENNAI: Thoothkudi is the sole city from Tamil Nadu which figures in the list of 100 cities which has high levels of air pollution wi...

Thoothkudi sole city from TN to have high levels of air pollution

CHENNAI:

Thoothkudi is the sole city from Tamil Nadu which figures in the list of 100 cities which has high levels of air pollution with the presence of Particulate Matter 10, Sulphur di-oxide and Nitrogen di-oxide by Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.

The city has lot of red industries as a result the PM 10 -- tiny airborne particles seven times finer than human hair–exceeding national standards (60 micrograms per cubic metre, or µg/m³) exceeds around 200 per cent. Environmentalists blame that public and private coal-fired thermal power plants, copper smelter and chemical industries for polluting the air quality of Thoothkudi.

According to a study 'Assessment of Air Quality Index for Cities and Major Towns in Tamil Nadu' published in Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering on March 2018, the air quality index of Thoothkudi is in the range of 25-167 and the cause of high level of PM10 is due to the presence of major power plants, copper smelter plant, fertilizer plant and other units.

Thoothkudi is termed as one of the Non-attainment cities by Ministry of Environment primarily on the basis of excess PM10 under National the Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Program (NAMP),  which monitors the PM10, SO2 and NO2 parametres.

Initially, 94 non-attainment cities were identified for formulation of action plans. State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) have been asked to prepare city-specific plans.

About 30pc of the respiratory diseases are related to personal exposure to high level ambient PM concentrations. PM10 can be breathed into the lungs, and therefore, its health effects are more severe than large particles.

writingonblog uncensored: TN maps flood prone areas in Chennai; 37 considere...

writingonblog uncensored: TN maps flood prone areas in Chennai; 37 considere...: Chennai: Tamil Nadu government has classified 306 areas in Chennai as flood-prone areas of which 37 are considered to be very highly vul...

TN maps flood prone areas in Chennai; 37 considered to be very highly vulnerable ones

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu government has classified 306 areas in Chennai as flood-prone areas of which 37 are considered to be very highly vulnerable ones.

The mapping of vulnerable areas was done by Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority (TNSDMA) after the December 2015 Chennai floods.

It is learnt that after the floods, an assessment was carried out by mapping areas as very high vulnerable ones, highly vulnerable ones, medium vulnerable ones and low vulnerable ones based on inundation.

If the water level was more than five feet due to heavy rains, it was classified as very high vulnerable areas while those having  two to three feet water level were considered highly vulnerable areas. The areas with water level of two to three feet were considered medium vulnerable areas and those below two feet were considered low vulnerable areas.

Initially of the 15 zones of Chennai Corporation, 859 locations were affected by floods. After desiltation and rectification works done in the form of laying storm water drainage network, 306 areas have been identified as vulnerable and have been classified under the four sections.

According to TNSDMA, of the 37 very high vulnerable areas, 24 of them are located in Adyar Zone, which includes Guindy, Velachery, Thiruvanmiyur and Adyar. Interestingly, of the 306 flood-prone areas, 67 have been identified in the Adyar zone. During the 2015 floods, water has entered a maximum distance 1500 metres near military causeway in Manapakkam village in Alandur taluk on the left side of Adyar River while it entred a maximum distance of 3000 metre near Jaffarkhanpet.

Teynamet Zone, which consists of Nungambakkam, Thousand Lights, Alwarpet, Mylapore, Santhome, Triplicane, Chepauk, Royapettah and R A Puram, has five of thet most very high vulnerable areas prone to floods above five feet. Interestingly, this zone is considered highly flood prone with 65 locations figuring in the flood prone list with 20 of them being termed as highly vulnerable areas.

The mapping of flood prone areas also highlighted the vulnerability of Valsaravakkam zone which has 26 flood prone areas of which four have been classified as very highly vulnerable (above fife feet water inundation).

The mapping also highlighted that the cities have 84 areas which are highly flood prone, one as medium vulnerable one and 184 as low vulnerable areas (below 2 feet of inundation).

Classification of Vulnerable areas:

Areas of Very High Vulnerability (above five feet water): 37

Zones: Adyar (Guindy, Velachery, Thiruvanmiyur, Adyar) -- 24; Teynampet (Nungambakkam, Thousand Lights, Mylapore, Royapettah, R A Puram, Triplicane, Chetpet, Alwarpet, Santhome) -- 5;  Valasaravakkam ( Nerkundram, Maduravoyal, Karambakkam, Ramapuram, Valsaravakkam and Porur)--- 4; Anna Nagar—1; Madhavaram –2; and Tiruvottiyur—1;.

Areas of High Vulnerability (inundation level 3-5 feet): 84

Teynampet – 20; Adyar: 17; Valasaravakkam-- 13; Tiruvottiyur--- 7; Madhavaram:---6; Tondiarpet (RK Nagar, Kondungaiyur, Vyasarpadi, Perambur, Tondiarpet)—7; Sholinganallur: (Sholinganallu, Semmanchery and Uthandi)-- 3; Kodambakkam: (Vadapalani, Saligramam, Virugambakkam, Kodambakkam, Ashok Nagar, MGR Nagar, Thiyagaraya Nagar and Saidapet)—9; Royapuramm -- 1; Anna Nagar--- 1:

writingonblog uncensored: HC sets one-week deadline to TN to dissolve Regupa...

writingonblog uncensored: HC sets one-week deadline to TN to dissolve Regupa...: CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government  has been given a one-week deadline by Madras High Court to suspend Justice R Regupathi Commission of Inqu...

HC sets one-week deadline to TN to dissolve Regupathi Commission; Four week time to review other commissions of enquiry

CHENNAI:
Tamil Nadu government  has been given a one-week deadline by Madras High Court to suspend Justice R Regupathi Commission of Inquiry which was constituted to probe the alleged irregularities in the construction on spacious Omandoorar Government Estate to accommodate the State Assembly and the Secretariat by the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.The buildings have now been converted into multi-speciality government hospital.

Justice S M Subramaniam also directed the state to stop all further allotment of funds including the perquisites and Government facilities, to the commission, the oldest one which had been constituted in 2011, till the final disposal of the writ petitions.

Tamil Nadu State has also been directed to review the functionings of all the existing Commission of Inquiries and take a decision in respect of its further continuance, dissolving the same or fixing the time limit for the submission of report based on the legal principles settled by Supreme Court of India and the observations made by the High court, within a period of four weeks. Besides Raghupathy commission, the state has constituted four more commissions and they are Justices Singaravelu, Rajeswaran, Arumugaswamy and Aruna Jagadeesan Commissions.

Interestingly, Madras High Court has also ordered Raghupathy Commission and Judge R Reghupathi to hand over all the
records, reports of the Investigating Agencies, statements and the evidences collected, to the Tamil Nadu government, within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. On receipt of those documents, the State is directed to scrutinise the said reports of the Investigating Agencies, statements and evidences of Government Officials and files and if prima facie case is found, then institute criminal prosecutions against all the public servants, Government Officials and the persons concerned, under the Penal provisions of Law.

The State has also been directed to issue order to vacate respective Government Residential Bungalows allotted to
all the Commissions of Inquiry, within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. If at all, accommodation is required, the same shall be provided in the Government Office buildings suitably.

"Commissions of Inquiries are appointed on political reasons, however, its continuance, frequent and long
extension of the Commissions of Inquiries are granted by the State either to dilute the issues or to favour some persons or a group of persons. But the ultimate objectives set out for appointing the Commissions of Inquiries are not only diluted but completely frustrated," the court observed.

Factfile:
1. Regupathi Commission: Constituted in 2011 to probe the alleged irregularities in the construction on spacious Omandoorar Government Estate to accommodate the State Assembly and the Secretariat by the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. The govt spent rs 4.11 crore on it.
2. Singaravelu Commission: Constituted with regard to the death of one Ilavarasan in July, 2013. The commission is likely to submit its report by the end of this month. So far, Rs. 2.06 crore has been spent on this.
Justice Rajeswaran Committee: Constituted in February, 2017 to probe the cases relating to various agitations and
violent incidents during Jallikattu.  Rs. 1.47 crore has been spent.
3. Justice Arumugaswamy commission: The commission is enquiring into the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was formed in 2017.
4. Justice Aruna Jagadeesan commission: The Commission is probing the Thoothukudi firing incidents. It was formed during the later part of 2017 and early 2018.

writingonblog uncensored: Ground water in 5 districts of TN contaminated by...

writingonblog uncensored: Ground water in 5 districts of TN contaminated by...: Chennai: The ground water in five districts of Tamil Nadu are being contaminated by heavy metals like lead, cadmium and Chromium which...

Ground water in 5 districts of TN contaminated by heavy metals, Central Ground water Board

Chennai:

The ground water in five districts of Tamil Nadu are being contaminated by heavy metals like lead, cadmium and Chromium which are beyond the permissible limits of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), according to a study by Central Ground Water Board.

Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), which regularly monitors ground water quality of shallow aquifers on a regional scale, once every year, have found that ground water in Dindigul, Thiruvallur and Kancheepuram contains lead above 0.01mg per litre.

Dindigul is one of the important places for its tannery units. It has more than 80 tannery units in and around the city and also posess Chromium above 0.05mg per litre which is above the BIS limit. Interestingly, CGWB states that ground water in Cuddalore, Erode, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur districts are also contaminated by Chromium.

Chromium is used in the manufacture of alloys, corrosion, inhibitory paints, wood preservatives, fixatives for dyes and tanning, photographic sensitizers and as anticorrosive in cooking systems and boilers. Chromium contamination usually occurs via poor storage, leakage or incorrect disposal methods. High concentrations of chromium are toxic and carcinogenic.

Interestingly, the study also points out that ground water in Thiruvallur district is contaminated by Cadmium. This means the ground water in two neighbouring districts of Chennai is contaminated with heavy metals like lead cadmium and chromium and is not potable.

When Express contacted state government officials for their reaction to heavy metal polluting ground water resources, they said that they don’t monitor the heavy metal values in water as they don’t have the equipment. “We had the equipment in 1995 but then they became old. Now we are procuring new equipments and these will be in place in next couple of months,” a state ground water source said.

Besides heavy metal pollution, the ground water in 23 districts of Tamil Nadu has level of salinity above the prescribed BIS limits. Similarly, fluoride levels in ground water is above the BIS prescribed limits of 1.5mg per litre in 19 districts.

Similarly, arsenic pollution of ground water is reported in nine districts which has it above 0.01mg/l. Even nitrate pollution is reported in 27 districts of the state.

According to statistics Niti Aayog report, 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about two lakh people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water.

Factfile:

Heavy metal pollution of ground water in districts:

Lead : Dindigul, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram

Cadmium : Tiruvallur

Chromium: Cuddalore, Dindigul, Erode, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur

writingonblog uncensored: TN requires 8,138MW of solar power to replace trad...

writingonblog uncensored: TN requires 8,138MW of solar power to replace trad...: CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu agricultural power consumption is 11,406 million units a year and a total of 8,138 MW of solar power is required t...

TN requires 8,138MW of solar power to replace traditional agricultural water pumps, says report

CHENNAI:

Tamil Nadu agricultural power consumption is 11,406 million units a year and a total of 8,138 MW of solar power is required to replace the consumption from traditional water pumps to solar pumps, according to a report by Greenpeace.

The White Paper 'From Rooftops to Farmtops: Augmenting India’s Distributed Solar Goals through net-metered solar pumps' jointly prepared by International Water Management Institute (IWMI)-TATA Water Policy Programme and Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) states that if solar pumps were to replace traditional water pumps in farms across the country, India could surpass its solar target of 100  GW by 2022.

The analysis was released at a roundtable conference hosted by Greenpeace India, GERMI, and IWMI-Tata Program to discuss steps necessary for the successful implementation of KUSUM (Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahaabhiyan) – a central government scheme promoting solar irrigation pumps.

Currently, while the 60 GW target assigned for large scale solar is on track, the 40 GW target for rooftop solar is still to gather momentum, with only 2.4 GW of total rooftop capacity installed as of March 2018.

Interestingly, Tamil Nadu which had a policy for installing solar panels on the roof top of private and public buildings is going slow on implementation. It is learnt a high-level meeting was held recently install to install solar roof tops in government buildings but a concrete decision to this effect has yet to be taken.

Meanwhile, experts are of the view that Net metered solar farm top installations are very similar to rooftop solar installations from a technical standpoint. While rooftop solar Photo voltaic systems take away high paying consumers from the grid, farmtop systems will actually reduce the agricultural subsidy burden for India’s cash-strapped power utilities. “Farmtops” are an excellent way to achieve scale across the country,” said Akhilesh Magal, Head - Advisory, Renewable Energy, Environment, and Energy Efficiency, GERMI.

A preliminary assessment shows that replacing 100pc of all agricultural consumption in the next five years would require a total solar PV installed capacity of close to 150 GW. This is far more than India’s solar target of 100 GW by 2022. Even achieving a modest 10pc of this potential in the next five years would translate to a very significant commissioned capacity of almost 15 GW.

The KUSUM scheme is timely and the Centre must work with all states to come out with a standard operating procedure (SOP) to facilitate smooth implementation, added Magal.

Factfile;

1. If the complete agricultural consumption across all states in India were to be replaced with net-metered solar pumps, then India would surpass its distributed solar goal of 40 GW by a wide margin.

2. While the 60 GW target assigned for large scale solar is on track, the 40 GW target for rooftop solar is still to gather momentum, with only 2.4 GW of total rooftop capacity installed as of March 2018.

3. Tamil Nadu agricultural power consumption is 11,406 million units a year and a total of 8,138 MW of solar power is required to replace the consumption from traditional water pumps to solar pumps

writingonblog uncensored: Two years rigorous imprisonment for CRPF DIG

writingonblog uncensored: Two years rigorous imprisonment for CRPF DIG: CHENNAI: The Special Judge for CBI Cases, Chennai on Wednesday sentenced three persons, including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)...

Two years rigorous imprisonment for CRPF DIG

CHENNAI:

The Special Judge for CBI Cases, Chennai on Wednesday sentenced three persons, including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) deputy Inspector general (DIG) of police, to two years rigorous Imprisonment with total fine of Rs 65,000.

P Nagaranjan, then DIG of Police, Group Centre, CRPF, Avadi, Chennai; Johnson Devkumar, then Assistant Sub Inspector, Group Centre, CRPF, Avadi and Vijay Khanna, Director of Madhur Enterprises Private Ltd  were sentenced to undergo two years Rigorous Imprisonment, a CBI release stated.

CBI had registered the case against the accused on the allegations that the private company paid illegal gratification for expediting the payment of their bills related to the supply of Coat Combat. The accused accepted the alleged bribe. After investigation, a chargesheet was filed in the Designation Court. The Trial Court found the accused guilty and convicted them