Posts Tagged Cuddalore
Police seized ‘hawala’ money of Rupees 42 lakh
Posted by ganesh in Cuddalore, Departments, Information, Other, Smugglings, Theft, arrested, illegal, police on April 3rd, 2010
Police have seized ‘hawala’ money to the tune of Rupees 42 lakh after nabbing and interrogating five people who were moving about suspiciously at the bus stand here late last night.
According to Cuddalore DSP Mr Stalin, two head constables Murthy and Venkatesan were on night patrolling at the bus stand when they noticed the five culprits.
He said when they did not give convincing replies on being confronted, the two head constables informed the matter to Tiruppapuliyur police station. Following this, Inspector S Sudaravadivel and Sub Inspector Ananad Babu rushed to the spot.
While being questioned at the police station, the five surrendered the money they were clandestinely carrying with them. The money was packed in dif ferent bundles of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 denominations.
The five from whom the bundles were seized, were identified as Al Faizal (32) of Thattucheri village in Nagapattinam district, A Asraf Ali (54) from Dindigul district, B Eswar (43) from Chennai, A Akbar Sadiq (34) of Aruppukottai in Virudhunagar district and Zakir Hussein of Kanniyakumari, he said.
He said the police however, could not extract any information about who had given them the ‘Hawala’ money and to whom it was to be handed over.
The police made a formal arrest under Sections 41 and 102 of CrPC and produced them before Judicial Magistrate 3 this morning.
Special schools taking out a procession in Children and teachers
Posted by ganesh in Communication, Cuddalore, Departments, Education, programme, student on January 8th, 2010
The students and teachers of special schools in Cuddalore, Villupuram and Nagapattinam districts took out a rally here on Thursday in support of their demands.
Demands
It was held under the aegis of the Cuddalore branch of the All India Confederation of Organisations for Persons with Mental Disability. According to M.Ravichandran, State president of the organisation, the demands included time-scale pay for the teachers in special schools and speedy distribution of benefits announced by the government for the differently abled persons.
According to the 2001 Census, there were two lakh mentally challenged persons in the State, and 250 special schools run by the service organisations were catering to their needs.
Teachers appointed
Mr. Ravichandran pointed out that till 1992, the government had appointed 32 teachers in special schools, but later, no postings were made. In view of the present and future needs, the government must post at least 750 teachers, 250 women helpers and 250 office assistants in special schools.
Correspondents and non-teaching staff of at least 18 special schools such as Oasis, G.V.Dhaya, Santhi Jain, Vela and John, and hundreds of students and parents took part in the rally that wound its way from the Periyar statue to the Collectorate.
Later, the office-bearers of the organisation handed over a memorandum to District Collector P.Seetharaman. Those participated on the occasion included K.Kumar, district president and Kavi.Thavaraj, secretary.
Cuddalore fishermen were beaten up by navy personnel
Fishermen of Thazhanguda in Cuddalore who were beaten up by navy personnel
Thirty fishermen belonging to Thazhanguda coastal village in Cuddalore on Wednesday alleged that they were assaulted by Indian Navy personnel.
B. Sakthi and P. Gopi told The Hindu that the fishermen had set out in 10 fibre boats from Thazhanguda. At about 12 nautical miles off the coast, they cast their nets.
Suddenly, they noticed a patrolling naval ship pulling up at that point. A three-member naval team, armed with cricket stumps, got on to an inflatable boat and approached the fishermen, demanding their identity cards.
Mr. Sakthi said that since no agency had issued them ID cards they could not produce any. The Navy personnel started beating up the fishermen with the stumps and gave no reason for their action when asked.
The fishermen abandoned their fishing nets, along with the catch, all worth Rs.15 lakh, and returned to the shore.
Mr. Gopi said the Navy personnel warned them that if they were seen in the waters on their return from Nagapattinam, where they were heading then, they would take stringent action against the fishermen.
After the incident, the fishermen scattered in different directions. Those injured in the attack included Dhanavelu, Murugan, Thennarasu and S. Krishna, a 13-year-old student, who had accompanied his father in a boat.
Mr. Gopi further said that on Wednesday the naval ship was found anchored five km off the coast. Hence, none of the fishermen ventured into the sea. He said such arbitrary action affected their livelihood.
State president of the Meenavar Padhukappu Iyakkam M. Kuppuraj said that hitherto Tamil Nadu fishermen used to be the target of the Sri Lankan navy, but now the Indian Navy was targeting them. He said the fishermen were used to going up to 100 km for fishing but the proposed legislation to curtail their movement within 12 nautical miles would severely affect their livelihood.
The Iyakkam was trying to stall the passage of the proposed legislation in Parliament, Mr. Kuppuraj said.
State general secretary of the Iyakkam Selva Ezhumalai said that his organisation would take up the issue with the district administration on Thursday.
“Exceeded distance limit”
Superintendent of Police Ashwin M. Kotnis said that the fishermen had gone up to 20 nautical miles, while the permitted distance was 12 nautical miles. A total of 20 fibre boats had violated the rules and the fishermen were reportedly chased away by the naval personnel. He would take up the allegation that they were beaten up with the naval detachment stationed in Puducherry.
The SP said fishermen were expected to carry identity cards, which would save them from such hassles.
When contacted, Collector P. Seetharaman said that the process of creating the National Population Register had begun in the coastal villages. This was being done jointly by Central and State governments. A total of 12 coastal villages had been identified — nine in Cuddalore division and three in Chidambaram division.
In the Cuddalore division, there were 32,850 fishermen and in Chidambaram, 10,548 fishermen aged above 15 years. So far, 26,196 fishermen (75 per cent) were covered in Cuddalore and 4,973 (40 per cent) in Chidambaram.
A database had been created and soon bio-metric cards, incorporating the fishermen’s fingerprints and photographs, would be issued. The cut-off date for issuing the ID cards for the Cuddalore division was Thursday, and for Chidambaram division, December 7.
The Collector said that fishermen could provide the intelligence input about the possible movement of strangers in the coastal areas. In the current threat perception they had a vital role to play to secure the coastline. He too would take up the issue of beating up of fishermen with the naval authorities.
The Collector further said that none of the fishermen carried the registration certificates for the boats, the diesel passbooks (that entitle them to get diesel at subsidised price) and identity cards issued by the Assistant Director of Fisheries Department.
Collector P. Amutha to open a part-time ration shop:Dharmapuri
Posted by ganesh in Cuddalore, Public, government on November 20th, 2009
Dharmapuri Collector P. Amutha trekking five km to Erimalai village on a hill in Pennagaram taluk to open a part-time ration shop
About 101 ration cards from the Kari Kuttanoor Public Distribution System shop were bifurcated to the new part-time ration shop in Erimalai.
After inaugurating the part-time ration shop, Ms. Amutha appealed to the villagers to educate their children.
She also assured them that the demands of the villagers for safe drinking water, road and employment opportunities would be looked into.
Assistance
The Collector also gave away welfare assistance to 10 persons.
She said that people could buy essentials except kerosene on Saturdays at the part-time shop.
Food grains, sugar and atta would be transported to Erimalai village from Kari Kuttanoor.
Book exhibition is being organised during Library Week celebrations:Cuddalore
Posted by ganesh in Cuddalore, Education, exicipition on November 20th, 2009
The Cuddalore District Central Library is receiving several titles year after year, and thus, its total collection has crossed over 1.3 lakh volumes. With the ever increasing turnout of readers, the library is unable to accommodate visitors as well as the books.
Hence, there is a long-felt need for shifting the library to a more spacious venue, according to S. Pachaiyappan, librarian. He told The Hindu that the existing building had been compartmentalised into various sections for children, reference, newspapers/magazines, book distribution and for sorting out new titles.
He said that the children’s section alone had as many as 7,800 titles. The library is getting good patronage and the rush is more during examinations.
The library has a wide range of books to help candidates prepare for competitive examinations. When asked about reading habit among students, Mr. Pachiyappan said it was on the rise as more college and school students were using the library for participating in various competitions.
Literature, fiction and subject-oriented books are much sought after. There are a total number of regular 17,790 members, from all walks of life. Last year, a total of 59,154 readers made use of the reference section and over 36,600 readers borrowed books.
On an average, the library is getting 500 readers every day, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It indicates the vibrant trend of the growing reading habit among people. A photocopier has also been provided to help the readers.
This year, the central library received over 15,000 titles and it is in the process of sorting out and dispatching the books to 132 libraries, including 64 branch libraries, 39 rural libraries and 29 part-time libraries, under its purview.
With a view to familiarising readers with the new titles, book exhibition is being organised during Library Week celebrations. But this year, for want of space, the expo could be held only for a day as most of the space was occupied for sorting out the new titles, Mr. Pachaiyappan said.
Cuddalore old town area remains constantly waterlogged
Residents of V.K.J. Nagar in Panchankuppam area near here detest rain because even the slightest shower leaves their place waterlogged. About 100 houses are thus facing the threat of inundation from overflowing sewage and run-off from the nearby garbage yard.
S. Raju (45), a resident, told The-Hindu that waterlogging had been the bane of the area for the past two decades. Sewage carrying effluents of the SIPCOT Industrial Estate is also streaming through the village, thereby causing stench and serious health hazards.
Owing to the lack of drainage facility, the murky water stagnated at the place for months together. Therefore, the area had become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and the residents find it extremely difficult to cope with the menace.
The residents would have to invariably wade through the muddy waters and many of them had developed skin disorders. Whenever it rained heavily, water seeped into houses and posed a severe challenge to clear the contaminated water.
Drinking water supply too was affected by such a situation because there was a potential threat to contract water-borne diseases. Mr. Raju said that whenever the residents register their protests, the local body took ad hoc measures such as digging a shallow trench.
Since the trench was not attached to any canal or water source, in course of time it also got clogged and aggravated the problem.
The residents had also made several representations to the district administration but no action has been taken.
Ryots concerned among farmers at lack of drainage facility that causes water stagnation in paddy fields
More than the floods, what is causing concern among farmers in Cuddalore district is the lack of drainage facility that causes water stagnation in paddy fields. In the tail-end delta region of the district, about 50,000 ha of samba crops are thus facing an impending threat to survival.
Owing to belated release of Mettur water for irrigation, the raising of nursery and transplantation process has been delayed in the district. In a vast stretch of farmland, straddling Chidambaram, Kattumannarkoil, Kumaratchi and Kurinjipadi blocks, transplantation was completed hardly a week ago.
Vice-president of the Cauvery Delta Farmers’ Association V. Kannan toldThe Hindu that the young seedlings that now remained underwater cannot be salvaged if the rainfall got vigorous.
Mr. Kannan said that lack of drainage facility in the farms was the primary cause for crop damage. The officials seemed to be paying scant regard to this aspect while taking up developmental works.
For instance, the elevated bypass road under construction — linking the Keerapalayam road with the Sirkazhi road — was acting as a stumbling block for clearing stagnating water from farms on either side because it was not provided with any vent, he said.
Leader of the All India Agricultural Workers’ Union T. Ravindran alleged that it had become customary to focus only on ad hoc measures, instead of on long-term solutions. Had the gains of the novel programme, ‘Water Walk,’ launched by the former Collector, Rajendra Ratnoo, been consolidated, the flood problem could have been tackled effectively.
During the marathon walk, the stakeholders’ views were ascertained and these were incorporated in a report submitted to the Central Committee on flood control. It suggested creation of facilities at suitable places to drain stagnant water from the farms into the regular canals.
The prominent among them was the proposal to launch the Rs.6-crore Aruvamookku project (a watercourse in the form of a sickle) to take the excesses in the Paravanaru to the sea and the Rs.18-crore Karuvattu Odai project to divert the Ponneri water to the Coleroon, without swelling the Veeranam tank.
Mr. Ravindran said the second spell of the monsoon would not be as benign as the first because it would bring copious flow from the catchment areas of Perambalur, Ariyalur and Salem to cause floods in Cuddalore.
Cuddalore District administration today issued a flood warning to 57 villages,
The Cuddalore District administration today issued a flood warning to 57 villages, located on the banks of four rivers which were in spate, following incessant rains in the district during the last five days.
District Collector P Seetharaman, talking to newspersons here after visiting the flood-hit areas in the district, said the 57 villages were located on the banks of Thenpannaiyaru, Vallaru, Manimutharu and Kedilam rivers.
The district administration has opened 20 shelters in Cuddalore and Chidambaram taluks to accomodate the people of the 57 villages in the event of their evacuation.
As of now, there was no evacuation, but the district administration was fully geared up to meet any eventuality, he said, adding the district has a rice stock of 818 tonnes and enough sarees and dhoties to be given to the affected poor.
The district received a total rainfall of 72.87 cm in the last nine days, Mr Seetharaman said, adding that the water level in the Veeranam lake was being maintained at 43.9 ft against its total capacity of 47.5 ft and it faced no threat.
The lake was receiving an inflow of 3,000 cusecs of water, mainly rain water from neighbouring Ariyalur district.
The entire inflow was being let out into the Velliangal Odai, he said.
He said paddy crops had been planted in 50,000 hectares of land in the district and there was no threat to them so far.
Mr Seetharaman said a sum of Rs 23 crore had been allotted to strengthen the banks of Veeranam lake and the work would be taken up soon. Similarly, strengthening the banks of Wellington lake at a stretch of 600 metres was going on at a cost of Rs 20 crore.
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