Encroachers deny walkers right to use footpath

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on August 4, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/encroachers-deny-walkers-right-to-use-footpath/300710.html

CHENNAI: Of all the class of citizens in the fast-growing metropolis of Chennai, it is the pedestrians who have been neglected the most. Why else would a city, with pavements stretching for 1,000 km along its roads, have such a high accident ratio for pedestrians? (Results of a study released by Transparent Chennai, a research wing of the Centre for Development Finance, IFMR, indicates that 33 per cent of accident victims in Chennai were pedestrians or bicyclists.) 

Of the nearly 1,000-km length pavements in the city, maintained by the Chennai Corporation and State Highways, pedestrians are unable to use over 80 per cent of the facilities as hawkers and commercial establishments occupy the area illegally.

Furthermore, several footpaths across the city’s commercial areas have been unofficially converted into impromptu parking lots.

“Influential residential and commercial complexes across the city convert their footpaths to make way for cars and other vehicles knowing that it is meant only for pedestrians,” said R Natarajan, a research scholar and an RTI activist.

“Despite my repeated pleas to the Chennai Corporation officials about the conversion near Adyar Gate in RA Puram for the past several months, no action has been taken yet against the commercial complex which has converted the footpath into its private parking space,” added Natarajan.

“Not only in RA Puram, such violations have taken place in commercial areas like T Nagar, Mylapore, Adyar, Parrys Corner, Purasawalkam and Anna Nagar where footpaths solely belong to the nearby commercial establishments or platform hawkers.  Pedestrians are forced to walk on the road leaving their safety to the will of  the speeding vehicles,” he explained.

With the civic body’s rules and acts under the Madras City Municipal Corporation Act 1919 to stop the menace, the Corporation is unable to take any punitive action on those who encroach footpaths.

According to civic body sources, with its power prescribed under the MCMC Act, the maximum action that can be taken on such violators by the Corporation is mere eviction from the particular spot or confiscation of goods.

Besides, the civic body can serve a notice on such encroachers and if at all the case reaches the final stage, it would end up with a paltry sum of Rs 50 or  Rs 100 as fine collection from them.

If the same continues unabated, someday the pedestrians will have to walk on the road, letting commercial establishments and hawkers use the footpaths, warned Natarajan.

The World Bank had mentioned in one of its reports that in developing cities across the world, pedestrians make up over one-thirds of the modal share of all modes of transport. The ratio holds good for Chennai as well, according to a Transparent Chennai report.

Projects drawn up for sustainable transport in the city only talk about flyovers, bridges and private modes of transport, sparing little or no thought for pedestrians who make up for one-thirds of the city’s 47 lakh population on the move. Footpaths continue to shrink to make way for vehicular traffic, though norms clearly lay down that pavements should be at least 1.5 metres wide in residential streets and a minimum of three metres wide on major roads with commercial activities.  Is it becoming a victim of market economy?

Coming soon, a book on the 'lost' Katchatheevu

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamilnadu/coming-soon-a-book-on-the-lost-katchatheevu/300835.html

By G Saravanan
Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on August 4, 2011:


CHENNAI: With a view to dispel myths that had surrounded the ceding of Indian territory Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka in 1974 and how to retrieve the island, the Tamil Nadu-based Katchatheevu Retrieval Movement is publishing a book with extensive details about the misinterpretations in the agreements reached between the two countries that time.

Titled Katchatheevu — The Betrayed Indian Territory, the 80-page book, which is being published in English, is all set to kick off a storm in the political circles, as the Centre for years misguided the Tamil Nadu fishermen by clubbing two distinctive agreements with Lanka, said Seethayin Mainthan, author of the book.
BJP’s senior leader Sushma Swaraj will soon release the book and a DVD about Katcha­theevu in New Delhi in a couple of weeks.
According to the author of the book, the island of Katchatheevu, which belonged to Tamils and TN, was ceded to Lanka in 1974, by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, overlooking constitutional provisions.
The very objective of bringing the book in English is to unravel the truth behind the ceding and double standards of Lanka to all Indian fishermen, he said.
Though it is believed that the TN fishermen illegally move into the Lankan waters near Katchatheevu for fishing, the reality is, under the 1974 accord, both country shall have control over the waters and the island, he said.

Book on Lankan war crimes hits stands

Pic by A Raja Chidambaram/EXP

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on August 02, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/book-on-lankan-war-crimes-hits-stands/300120.html

CHENNAI: With a view to giving  Tamil readers an exclusive insight and a better understanding of the controversial UN Panel report on Lankan war crimes, Chennai-based Manitham Publishers has published a book titled ‘War Criminal’ (Por Kutravali), which has reproduced the whole report in Tamil.

The publisher of the 328-page book, which has already hit the stands in the city, has dedicated about 240 pages for the translated version of UN Panel report and has given extensive details of accounts to make the reader easily understand the report.

The list of  prominent Tamils who wrote preface for the book includes Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, Prime Minister of Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE),  S J Emmanuel, president of Global Tamil Forum (GTF), Regi, President of Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) and R Durairathinam, a journalist from Switzerland.

Nimalka Fernando, president, International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR), Sri Lanka, Peter Schalk of Uppasala, Sweden, and Dr Brian Senewiratne from Australia have contributed to the preface of the book.

The first part of the book contains articles related to the UN Panel’s report on war crimes, like Blossom of Tamil Eelam-Sentencing of Rajapaksa team in International Criminal Court by Agni Subramaniam, Tamil Nadu, Fight between UN-Sri Lanka on Panel report by D B S Jeyaraj, Canada, Sri Lanka-Killing Fields and three other documentaries by Yamuna Rajendran, London, and We Have to Use UN Panel Report for Our People’s Liberation’ by Thangavelu Velupillai, President of Tamil Creative Writers Association, Canada.

The second part of the book consists of 444 points and images of the Tamil translation of the UN Panel’s report in about 240 pages.

No Assange account on Twitter, warns WikiLeaks

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on August 2, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/world/no-assange-account-on-twitter-warns-wikileaks/300097.html

CHENNAI: WikiLeaks, the controversial whistleblowing site that leaks classified information from anonymous sources, on Monday announced that their key man Julian Assange does not have any account in the microblogging site, Twitter.

Clearing the air in a tweet on Monday, WikiLeaks said, “Warning: Julian Assange does not have a twitter account, email, facebook, phone, etc. @JulianAssange_ etc (40k followers) are imposters.”

Ironically, the blue “Verified Badge”, which confirms the particular account has been verified and the owner is the rightful and authentic user, is missing in the account. Till Monday, about 1,580 tweets were posted on the microblogging site, which has a picture of Assange and a whopping 42,742 followers. The big followers are Americans and Europeans.

The last tweet from the account was “Couple of cold beers in order this weekend.” It was posted on June 24.

Though most of the tweets from the account linked directly with Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, there were some tweets, which spoke about the Cuban culture.

WikiLeaks (@WikiLeaks) also warned its over 10 lakh followers on Twitter that the account WikiLeaks Argentina (@WikiLeaksAR) is an imposter.

Fake Twitter accounts imitating celebrities, corporations or any other well-known public entities are not uncommon. In the name of Assange, Twitter has another account Julian Ass (@Julian_Ass). The account too has a following of 10,500 members. Most tweets from Julian Ass consist of gossip.

Sometime ago, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa faced the similar problem as an impersonator had created a Twitter account in her name (@j_Jayalalithaa). She issued a statement disassociating from it in February.

Autonomy pitch for Lankan Tamils

Pics by Jaffer/Theekathir

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on July 31, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamilnadu/autonomy-pitch-for-lankan-tamils/299570.html

CHENNAI: Showing the CPM’s strongest ever support for the Lankan Tamils, the party’s general secretary Prakash Karat on Saturday said that adequate autonomy to the northern and eastern regions of Lanka would only give a long lasting peace in the war-torn Island nation.

Addressing a special conference on ‘Equal rights for Sri Lankan Tamils in their country,’ Karat said, “The most urgent priority is that in Sri Lanka, there has to be a political solution to the Tamil question. For that, there has to be adequate autonomy given to the northern and eastern regions.”

“There has to be devolution of powers that are meaningful, which can enable the Tamil people to manage their affairs in these areas,” Karat said about SL Tamils who were denied equal rights in their country for the past 60 years. Coming down heavily on the Lankan government for using delaying tactics, Karat said, “We (CPM) would like to tell the SL government not to continue to adopt tactics to delay and think that by avoiding these issues, you will solve the problems.”

EELAM: Help ease suffering, TNA urges India

PIC Courtesy: Jaffer/ Theekathir

“If India leaves the ethnic Tamils to die for equal rights in the island nation, then who else would help us?” 

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on July 31, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/Help-ease-suffering-TNA-urges-India/299569.html

CHENNAI: The Tamil National Alliance in Sri Lanka has made a fervent appeal to India to step in and save ethnic Tamils who are facing atrocities at the hands of the majority Sinhalese in the island nation.

TNA MP Suresh Premachandran, addressing a CPM-organised conference here on Saturday,  highlighted the mental agony of lakhs of ethnic Tamils living in the North and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka.When India and other countries were able to end the 30-year-old bloody conflict in the country, why can’t they end the sufferings of innocent Tamils, who are denied equal rights by fellow Sinhalese?” he asked.They are also ill-treated by the Lankan military though the war ended two year ago, he said.“Ethnic Tamils living in North and Eastern part of the nation are in deep trouble as they are slowly loosing their identity due to continuous ‘Sinhalisation’ of Tamil territories,” the TNA MP said.India should not leave the Lankan Tamils to perish at the hands of Sinhalese majority, he said adding that it has has a moral obligation to save them from the “brutal regime”, which uses every available means to delay equal rights to them.“If India leaves the ethnic Tamils to die for equal rights in the island nation, then who else would help us?” he asked.

CHENNAI CORPORATION EXPANSION:Officials to oversee merger of 42 local bodies

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on July 31, 2011:

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/Officials-to-oversee-merger-of-42-local-bodies/299571.html

CHENNAI: The jurisdiction of the Chennai Corporation will encompass 42 local bodies - 19 in Kancheepuram district and 23 in Tiruvallur district.  

Although a government order to that effect had been issued in December 2009, the merger of the 42 local bodies with the Chennai Corporation is yet to be officially announced.

Notwithstanding that, the state government has already appointed two nodal officers to oversee the smooth transition of the proposed merger.

According to sources, on the request of the Chennai Corporation Commissioner, who is the special officer for the city expansion, the State government on Friday, appointed two nodal officers (in the cadres of DROs) to monitor the systematic inclusion of the 42 local bodies, totalling 200 wards, with the corporation.

The officers will coordinate with the soon to be merged local bodies in Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, to ensure the smooth formation of the new mega Chennai corporation combing a massive area of 426 sq km, from the existing 174 sq km.

The government-appointed officials, Muthu and Sivagnanam, will collect all the data that would be required for the corporation.

They will also coordinate with the 42 local bodies that are to be merged with the civic body from the neighbouring Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts.

The nodal officers are mandated to oversee the preparation of electoral rolls, assessing existing workforce and infrastructure in their respective local bodies.

As per government proposal, the city limit for the mega Chennai Corporation will start from Edayanchavadi village panchayat coming under Tiruvallur district.

It will then go up to the suburban Uthandi village panchayat in Kancheepuram district.

The nodal officers are also mandated to submit a report to the Chennai Corporation Commissioner within a few weeks.