writingonblog uncensored: PMG reviews delays over Rs 900 crore IOC terminal

writingonblog uncensored: PMG reviews delays over Rs 900 crore IOC terminal: C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI: The delay over Rs 900 crore Indian Oil Corporation Corporation terminal at Vallur along with four other pending proj...

PMG reviews delays over Rs 900 crore IOC terminal

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
The delay over Rs 900 crore Indian Oil Corporation Corporation terminal at Vallur along with four other pending projects of the state has been reviewed by Project Monitoring Group (PMG) chaired by the Union Cabinet Secretary.

PMG is an institutional mechanism that is tasked with facilitating issue resolution in projects that are facing delays or awaiting regulatory clearances with state and Central Ministries.

If a company faces any bottlenecks in obtaining approvals from the Central or State Governments, it can upload the project and the issues accompanying it onto the PMG portal after creating an account and login credentials. After verification, PMG will take up the issues with the concerned authorities and facilitate expedited resolution.

The Grassroot terminal was to be constructed in Vallur by resitement of terminals at Korukkupet and Tondiarpet as these terminals were in congested areas. Initially the project was expected to be completed within 36 months from the date of administrative approval. However, the project is facing hurdles in change of land use for 13.134 acres by Housing department and approval of imported earth required for filling under the project.

The petroleum terminal is being constructed in an area of 100 acres near Kamarajar Port, which would supply petrol, diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel by road to Chennai and the adjoining districts and through pipeline to Trichy, Salem, Madurai and Asanur. Indian Oil Corporation Limited
purchased in 2000, a total of 102 acres of land at Vallur near Ennore based on single valid offer against a public tender. The land had been changed in the revenue records in the name of the Company to the extent of 71.73 acre only.

The construction of terminal at Vallur thus, could not be initiated over land issue and IOC tried to enter into out of court settlement with landowners in the year 2020.  However, now the work is going on and is on the advanced stage. Though the work was to be completed in 2023, it is likely that dedaline could be shifted to next year. Sources said that IOC is awaiting the clearance from Housing department over the change of land use for 13.134 acres so that work could be started in that piece of land..

Aong other pending projects reviewed include Rs 200 croreTindivanam- Nagari (180 km) Broad Guage line, The delay is over acquisition of 127.84 hectares of private land 106 hectares of government land in Ranipet, Villupuram, Tiruvanamalai and Thiruvallur. The other is Maniyachi - Nagercoil (102 Km) doubling project , which is of high strategic importance as it will cater to high demand of passenger traffic on this route as well as anticipated freight traffic due to large scale ports development in southern coastal Tamil Nadu.

The issue pertains to land acquisition of government and private projects. The other projects include delay in implementation of Cuddalore-Salem(191km) and MM of Chinnasalem-Kallakurichi New Line and the 86-km Thiruvananthapuram-Kanyakumari project which is delayed over acquisition of land.

A modern gymnasium project for people living in Athipattu tenements after 10 years

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
The project affected people living in 2012 tenements built by Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board for more than 10 years will now have access to a modern gymnasium soon after the Housing and Urban Development Board gave its concurrence to a proposal on Monday.

This comes following the budget speech by the Finance minister this year in which it was promised to develop sports cum recreation centres st Kannagi Nagar, Prumbakkam, Navalur and Athipattu.

The state made the announcement to improve the quality of living in the resettlement habitations constructed by Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board. These include sports cum recreation centres which will contain sports facilities, modern gymnasium, multi-perpose community hall to conduct vocational training and a library.

It is learnt that he managing director of TNUHDB hss sent a detailed proposal worth Rs 20 lakh based on the Public Works department schedule of Rates 2023-24. TNUHDB has constructed 2012 tenements at athipattu under rajiv Awas Yojana and Housing for all and alloted to the project affected families of Integrated Cooum River Eco Restoration Project, Adyar River Restoration Project, and to the urban slum or poor families. The scheme has been developed as a Integrated township with public distribution shop, community hall, convenient shops and parks.

The project will be implemented from the funds available with Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority as part of overall development of Chennai metropolitan Area. as TNUHDB does not have resources to execute the project and its capital programmes are implemented out of government grants.

The required equipment will be arranged through non governmental organisations, Greater Chennai Corporation and the Constituency Development funds.

writingonblog uncensored: TN looking at alternatives to ACs to cut down on p...

writingonblog uncensored: TN looking at alternatives to ACs to cut down on p...: C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI: The rising power consumption during the summer and the sudden rise in temperature is forcing the state  to look at...

TN looking at alternatives to ACs to cut down on power consumption

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
The rising power consumption during the summer and the sudden rise in temperature is forcing the state  to look at alternative solutions like district cooling, a centralised source which could provide cooling to entire building through pipelines.

State Planning Commission is preparing a feasibility report on district cooling in collaboration with United Nations Environment Programme.  It is learnt that a road map for district cooling solutions in the state is being prepared along with the Industries department and Department of Environment and Energy.

This could mean that flats and homes in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai, which has electricity meter and water meter, could soon have cooling meters where in the tariffs will have a fixed demand charge.

The working principle of a district cooling system is a centralized chilling plant which produces chilled water. The chilled water is transferred to various buildings or facilities through an underground network of insulated pipes. A control system regulates the temperature of the chilled water produced by the chilling plant and monitors the flow rate of the water through the distribution network.

By adopting a district cooling system, multiple buildings or facilities can share the cost of a centralized chilling plant, resulting in significant energy and cost savings, says Sudheer Perla,  Country Head, Tabreed India, on the integration of district cooling in Chennai’s climate action plan.

Interestingly, Tabreed has been a long term partner with UNEP for the last eight years in India, is vying to partner with the state in offering district cooling services. "The initial investment is high for setting up the district cooling system, which includes the underground pipeline network similar to city gas distribution," says Perla. The focus currently is to use the technology for the industrial parks, which Sipcot is setting up, he adds.

Though the penetration of air conditioners in India is around 9%, it is expected to grow to 30% in next 10 years. Currently, Chennai, one of India's largest and most populous cities, consumes almost 13,000 GW per hour of electricity, which is 14 per cent of the total power generated and purchased by Tangedco. The growth in air conditioners would put enormous stress on the energy requirements and technology like District Cooling offers nearly 40 to 50% savings for the air conditioning load, says Perla.

Perla says that the masterplans of the cities should now include district cooling to cut down on power consumption as cooling  is also linked to human health and productivity.

writingonblog uncensored: Rosatom to host Global Atomic Quiz from Nov 10

writingonblog uncensored: Rosatom to host Global Atomic Quiz from Nov 10: Chennai: Rosatom will traditionally hold its international nuclear awareness initiative – Global Atomic Quiz 2023 to mark World Science Day ...

Rosatom to host Global Atomic Quiz from Nov 10

Chennai:
Rosatom will traditionally hold its international nuclear awareness initiative – Global Atomic Quiz 2023 to mark World Science Day on November 10.

This year, the Quiz will be conducted in 13 languages: Russian, English, Armenian, Bengali, Hungarian, Spanish, Kazakh, Portuguese, Turkish, Uzbek, Arabic, and Afrikaans. Participants will have a chance to not only win unique prizes but also to challenge artificial intelligence (AI). For the first time, several questions were generated with the help of neural networks.

In addition to the online format of the quiz, in-person events will be organized in different cities around the world. The events will take place in Russia in a new ATOM pavilion at VDNH, Moscow and in nuclear energy information centers.

To participate in this international initiative, it is necessary to visit the project’s website on November 10. Participants will have 24 hours to answer 20 questions of varying difficulty and topics.

All participants of the Global Atomic Quiz 2023 will receive a digital certificate, which can be saved on their devices. It can also be shared with friends on social media. Besides, 100 winners with the best results will get unique prizes: an original sweatshirt with custom atomic patches and a spacious tote bag with an atomic print. The list of winners will be published on the project’s website by November 17, a release stated.