writingonblog uncensored: TNRERA registers 100 projects manually as website ...

writingonblog uncensored: TNRERA registers 100 projects manually as website ...: Chennai: Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA) has registered manually more than 100 projects as the deadline for registe...

TNRERA registers 100 projects manually as website faces technical glitches

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA) has registered manually more than 100 projects as the deadline for registering projects under the the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 came to an end on July 31, 2017.

A top official of TNRERA said that the whole process was done manually as the website is yet to yet to be developed.

“The rules were notified recently and it requires lot of approval to put in place the website. We are trying to set it up in the next couple of weeks,” the official said.

“We are accepting the applications manually and will screen them. This is being done after Union government has asked us to manually register the applications,” the official said.

The uploading of all registered applications will take time, the official said.

Interestingly, the projects are being manually registered by former Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority officials who are now the office-bearers of Real Estate Regulatory Authority. The office of TNRERA is functioning along with that of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the premises of CMDA.

Experts alleged that the vouched transparency in real estate suffered a blow as buyers are being kept in the dark on the details about projects being registered as all the registrations are being done manually.

High Court appointed Monitoring Committee member of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority M G Deivasahayam said that, “Confusion is the first law of corruption. It has to be done online. There is a hidden agenda,” he said.

Deivasahayam also hit out at the recruitment of former CMDA officials in RERA. “It is like catching the regulator. The regulator has to be independent. Now CMDA will be dictating terms to RERA. It will function as an arm of CMDA,” he said.

Interestingly, planners have cited examples and pointed out how CMDA took control of Koyambedu Market and Iron and Steel Market which was to function independently under the marketing management committee (MMC) as per Specific Commodities Act. However, the powers of both the markets were diluted with CMDA controlling the entire market.

A top TNRERA official defended the move to hire former CMDA officials stating that they have the expertise but Deivasahayam dismissed it as “Jugaad.”

Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) president Suresh Krishn said that most of the developers have submitted the applications manually as the website faced technical glitches.

Factfile:

1. Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 was notified only on June 22

2. The state government failed to act until the Centre ticked the officials off to carry out the registration manually on July.

3. As a result, the authority started manually registering the projects.

4. A website was created only a week later and this failed to function properly after the housing secretary set the deadline to July 31 sparking protests from the developers.

Tangedco prepares Rs 200 crore action-plan to clean-up flyash from water bodies

Chennai:

After the rap by National Green Tribunal, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) has come up with a Rs 200 crore action plan to clean-up flyash from Buckingham Canal and Kosasthalayar Basin.

Ruling out that Ennore Creek is being polluted by North Chennai Thermal Power Station, a top official from Tangedco told Express that the action plan will be submitted to National Green Tribunal on Thursday.

“We have already cleared the ash deposits along the banks of Kosasthalayar which leaked from the cast iron pipe. We will be submitting the photos as evidence,” said the official.

“We used the poclains to clean up the deposits of ash which was pointed out to us due to leakage in the 7km to 8km long pipeline,” the official said.

The clean up will be carried out in two stages. Under the first stage, the focus would be to plug the leaks in the pipeline. “For this we have allocated Rs 5 crore. The pipelines will be patched up immediately,” the official said.

“Under the next stage we are allocating Rs 200 crore to replace the entire pipeline. This would take nearly 12 to 16 months as we have to shut down the pipes one by one to carry out the replacement,” the official said

He said the pipelines are 25 year old and has small punctures from which the slurry, that is transported from the North Chennai Thermal Power Station to Ash pond in the government land near the Ennore Creek, gets leaked and gets deposited here and there.

He also ruled out Tangedco has got anything to do with polluting the Ennore Creek. “The land where the ash pond is located is a government land alloted to us when the thermal plant came up. “We are clearing the ash as and when the pond fills up,” he said.

The action plan by Tangedco has been drafted after National Green Tribunal (NGT) warned it that its North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTPS) would be shut down if discharge of toxic fly ash into water bodies at Ennore is not contained within a week.

The green bench has also proposed to form a committee, comprising soil scientist, hydrologist and biodiversity experts, to assess the impacts to creek, mangroves, Buckingham canal and other water bodies during the course of clean-up.

Interestingly, the North Chennai Thermal Power Station has drawn flak from the Comproller and Auditor General Report which has stated that the plant is operating without the consent of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. The report has stated that TNPCB has yet to give its consent as the two plants did not revamp existing pollution control systems like Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) and not installing and connecting online continuous effluent monitoring systems with TNPCB’s server.

Factfile:

1. Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation has come up with a Rs 200 crore action plan to clean-up flyash from Buckingham Canal and Kosasthalayar Basin.

2. The fly ash deposited in the water bodies is due to leakage in the 25 year old cast iron pipe

3. TANGEDCO has allocated Rs 5 crore to patch up the leaks.

4. It will allocate Rs 200 crore to replace the entire pipeline.

5. The whole exercise will be carried out in 12 to 16 months

writingonblog uncensored: Your subsidised gas cylinder dearer by Rs 2

writingonblog uncensored: Your subsidised gas cylinder dearer by Rs 2: Chennai:  The price of your gas cylinder has gone up by Rs 2 in Chennai as part of Union government’s move to eliminate all subsidies...

Your subsidised gas cylinder dearer by Rs 2

Chennai: 

The price of your gas cylinder has gone up by Rs 2 in Chennai as part of Union government’s move to eliminate all subsidies by March next year.

The gas cylinder which cost you Rs 465.56 last month has now been priced Rs 467.35.

However, the good news is that the price of non-susidised cylinder has come down by Rs 41. The price of non-subsidised cylinder, which was Rs 574 last month, is now priced at Rs 533.  

Indian Oil Corporation sources said the government has recently ordered state-run oil companies to raise subsidised cooking gas (LPG) prices by Rs. 4 per cylinder every month.

This comes as public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) were authorised to increase price of subsidised domestic LPG cylinder by Rs. 2 per cylinder (14.2-kg) per month (excluding VAT) with effect from July 1, 2016. Oil companies had hiked LPG rates on several occasions since then

Interestingly, the price of subsidised gas cylinder has been rising continuously from November 2016 till July 1, 2017. The steepest hike was of Rs 31 in the month of July when the price was increased from Rs 434.15 to Rs 465.56.

There are as many as 18.11 crore customers of subsidized LPG in the country. These include 2.5 crore poor women who were given free connections during the last one year under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna. There are another 2.66 crore users of non-subsidised cooking gas.

writingonblog uncensored: SC panel issues notice to evict 600 acres of Panch...

writingonblog uncensored: SC panel issues notice to evict 600 acres of Panch...: Chennai: More than 5,000 acres of Panchami lands (Depressed Classed Assigned lands) have been occupied by other communities in eight di...

SC panel issues notice to evict 600 acres of Panchami lands

Chennai:

More than 5,000 acres of Panchami lands (Depressed Classed Assigned lands) have been occupied by other communities in eight districts of Tamil Nadu and action has been initiated to get them back, according to Vice-Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes L Murugan.

Murugan, who is conducting a hearing of cases pertaining to atrocities against Scheduled Castes at State Guest House, told Express that notice has been served to people of other communities occupying 600 acres of Panchami land to vacate it.

As per law, the Panchami land, which came into being after Madras government passed the Government Orders 1010 and 1010A dated  September 30, 1892, could not be sold, or mortgaged to anyone.

Dalit activists claim that despite the act, panchami lands meant for dalits have vanished. And what is more there has also been a fall in the dalit owners of such lands.

On Dalits in the State being forced to approach the courts to register even First Information Reports pertaining to cases linked to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Murugan said that this attitude of officials should be changed. “According to new amendment to the act, if officer is neglecting his duty file FIRs under the Prevention of Atrocities Act, action can be taken against the official, he said.

Murugan said that he is hearing eight case and one of them pertains to a murder case in Puducherry where in the Director General of Police, Puducherry is being summoned.

Murugan said that he along with director of Adi Dravidar Welfare reviewed the implementation of schemes for Scheduled Castes. He said that he will be reviewing the schools and college hostels run by the Adi Dravidar Welfare department.