Posts Tagged dream project
CM dream project, the new Secretariat – Assembly complex at Omandhurar Estate
Posted by ganesh in Assembly, Chennai, Communication, Departments, Information, Other, anniversary, government, programme on March 12th, 2010
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi dream project, the new Secretariat – Assembly complex at Omandhurar Estate here, built at a cost of Rs 425 crore, will be inaugurated at a grand and a glittering ceremony in which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will take part.
Besides the two leaders, Chief Ministers of other southern States Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have been invited, as also scores of Union Ministers and party leaders, including from the BJP and CPI(M).
The huge complex is a labour of love of DMK president Karunanidhi, who has been visiting the latest landmark of Chennai on almost on a daily basis to review its progress. Karunanidhi had first made the announcement for the project in 2007 during the golden jubilee celebrations of his political career.
Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi are scheduled to arrive here by a special flight for the programme and return the same day. Police have stepped up the security for the high-profile inaugural event that is expected to draw a huge crowd from all over the state.
The function would be presided over by Karunanidhi and State Governor Surjith Singh Barnala would also attend.Around 5,000 policemen are scheduled to guard the complex during its inauguration, where its first budget will be presented by Finance Minister K Anbazhagan on 19 March. Traffic diversions have also been put in place.
Flags of DMK and Congress are fluttering on city roads, especially of the latter, erecting banners and posters welcoming their party leaders, Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi.
Though all three southern Chief Ministers have been invited, official sources said Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, K Rosiah and B S Yedduryappa, respectively, are scheduled to participate.
Some banners erected near the airport hailed the new found friendship between Tamilnadu and Karnataka, locked in a dispute over Cavery river, following the two States’ statue diplomacy last year that led to betterment in relations.
The 58-year-old Tamilnadu Legislature concluded its last session on January 9, 2010 at the 17th century Fort St George. The first Legislature of the erstwhile Madras State after Independence was held in March 1952 at the Fort, located on the banks of the Bay of Bengal, which was regarded as the first ‘establishment’ of the British in India.
Selvaraghavan’s long-awaited “Aayirathil Oruvan”: Movie Review
Posted by ganesh in Chennai, Cinema, Communication, Entertainment, Public, Sports, businesses, competition, music, programme on January 18th, 2010
Director Selvaraghavan’s long-awaited “Aayirathil Oruvan”.
Which has been touted as his dream project, is a brave attempt at seeking novelty in the world of Tamil cinema. Breaking away from the shackles of the stereotypes, the director transports us to a whole new world…and we are dumbstruck by the visuals, the packaging and his unique way of storytelling.
The jet-paced first half offers comedy, action, eye-catching songs, stunning visuals and grandeur. However, the film fails to impress as a whole, as it gets diluted in the second half due to the over-ambitious and illogical approach of the director.
In the movie, the government appoints a secret team led by archaeologist Anitha Pandian (Reema) and a military officer Ravi (Azhagamperumal) to track down the missing links after an archaeologist (Pratap Pothen) vanishes into thin air during his mission to discover the lost Chola civilization!
To reach the lost city, Lavanya, the missing archaeologist’s daughter is roped into the mission. A group of labourers led by Muthu (Karthi) helps the team carry their luggage and wade through the tough and inhospitable terrain and face hidden dangers and nature’s fury.
After a tedious expedition, they stumble on the lost Chola king (Parthiban) and his people and find hitherto unheard of and unexplained links between them and the world’s earliest cultures. What follows is a series of bizarre happenings that try to disentangle the whole mystery.
The fight sequence with the tribal folk and the arduous journey through thousands of snakes are some of the best scenes the film has to offer. The minus points are the length of the movie and the grave flaws in the screenplay.
Some questions are bound to come to mind – If the team suffers due to the mystique powers of the Chola dynasty, why couldn’t the kingdom save itself from extinction using the same powers?
The inexplicable ‘avatar’ of Reema as the heir of the Pandian dynasty leaves much to be desired. The three rulers in south India – the Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas – are said to have led a civilized life unlike the way depicted by Selvarghavan, who shows them as cannibals. That is a bit too much to digest!
The fantasy element has been stretched too far…the director takes everything for granted in his pursuit to present a ’stunning’ film.
The cinematography by Ramji is brilliant and G.V. Prakash’s background score and music are good. “Un Mela Aasadhan” sung by Selva’s younger brother and actor Dhanush, Aishwarya Dhanush and Andrea is a rocker.
Reema brings an uninhibited tempo to her role and the director has extracted a fine performance from her. Andrea is likeable and seems to have enjoyed her role. Karthi is lovable and humorous. His MGR-like punch-lines get thunderous applause.
Selvaraghavan is trying to widen the frontiers of commercial cinema and he deserves to be applauded for this. But he has failed to keep up the viewers’ interest in the second half, which goes wayward.
“Aayirathil Oruvan” is undoubtedly a different attempt but the second half lets the film down.
Described the Cooum river as a black spot on the fair face of Chennai.
Posted by ganesh in Chennai, Departments, Information, PWD, Public, government, programme on December 15th, 2009
The Cooum question never vanishes. C.N. Annadurai, former Chief Minister, once described the Cooum river as a black spot on the fair face of Chennai.
Eleven months ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too had made a reference to the river. Dr Singh, who laid the foundation stone in January for the elevated corridor project from Chennai Port to Maduravoyal, said the Cooum would get beautified by the corridor project.
Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, at a function last week, called for realising Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s “dream project” — Cooum beautification.
Ever since the earliest recorded proposal was mooted in 1890, the river, characterised by pollution and the presence of squalid shanties, has always been bothering Chennai citizens and policymakers alike.
Victim of urbanisation?
One can argue that the Cooum is a victim of urbanisation. But the fact is that this natural watercourse has, over the years, been reduced to a carrier of sullage, sewage and even cattle wash. Officially speaking, there are 127 identified sewage outfalls into the river, out of which 85 are in use. A study revealed that 21 types of fish species were found in the river in the late 1970s but, not any more.
The banks of the river have been the “living space” for thousands of families. Citing the 2003 enumeration, an official of the Water Resources Department (WRD) of the Public Works Department (PWD) says that 9, 000 families are among the encroachers. About 450 commercial establishments have also encroached upon the banks of the watercourse.
Core problem
However, the core problem of the Cooum has been that due to the sand bar, the river mouth near the Napier Bridge gets blocked for most of the time, preventing the river water from draining into the sea. This has, eventually, made the river, in its 18-km-long stretch in Chennai, a stinking cesspool .
In September 1967, six months after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam captured power for the first time in the State, Chief Minister Annadurai inaugurated the Cooum Improvement Scheme. Mr Karunanidhi was Public Works Minister then.
Installation of a regulator and a sand pump at the river mouth, protecting the sides of the river with cement concrete slabs from the Chetput bridge to the Napier Bridge, provision of a walkway on either side of the river, removal of encroachments on the banks of the river and more importantly, the diversion of sewage were all carried out.
Besides, seven boat jetties were built. Roving boats, powered boats and paddle boats, “all safe and sleek” to quote former civil servant A. Padmanabhan (who was the PWD Secretary in the early 1970s), were made available at a nominal charge. All these works cost the government about Rs. 2.2 crore. At a gala function in February 1973, Mr Karunanidhi, who was the CM then too, inaugurated a pleasure boat service. But, the experiment failed as the sand pump developed snags.
When the DMK returned to power in 1996, the government made another bid – this time covering all important watercourses.
The Buckingham Canal and the Adyar were also included. Supported substantially by the Union Environment and Forests Ministry, the Rs.1,200-crore Chennai City River Conservation Project (CCRCP) took off in January 2001. This time, it was aimed at arresting the sewage outfalls and strengthening the sewer network.
After years of implementation, the government, in a recent release, said that as the Project did not cover Tiruvallur district (which accounts for 54 km of the Cooum river stretch), it did not yield desired results.
After the DMK took charge in May 2006, the eco-restoration of the Cooum again came to the fore. To facilitate the implementation of the project, the Chennai River Authority, headed by the Deputy Chief Minister, has been formed. This will, among others, coordinate the implementation of various projects.
The State is carrying out the World Bank-funded Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation and Water Bodies Restoration and Management Project, under which the upper reaches of the river are proposed to be covered. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission envisages the execution of a number of water supply and sewerage projects in the city and peri-urban areas. Under the elevated corridor project, 7,400 families, living on the banks of the river, will be covered under the resettlement and rehabilitation component. Officials say Mr.Stalin is keen on executing the Cooum beautification project in a period shorter than 10 years that Singapore took in cleaning its river. The Chennai citizens are waiting for a day when the Cooum symbolizes cleanliness, if not fragrance.
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