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DC
K. Baskaran Sankariah MP J.M.
Chennai ● Friday ● 21 January 2011 5
State
has been released Ven- Haroon called
appointed mani memo- on the chief
Tiruvarur rial building minister on
collector. souvenir. Thursday.

Schools get winning smile ● MOST CANTEENS THAT SERVE FOOD AT BUDGET PRICES ARE CLOSED

notices for
census skip
Rail station food bites wallets
GEORGE ADIMATHRA raise similar complaints and

DC CORRESPONDENT
DC | CHENNAI say that the railway was
allowing private parties to
Duronto to
CHENNAI

Jan. 20: Chennai corpora-

tion on Thursday warned
that stern action would be
taken against private and
government schools that
prohibit teachers from par-
ticipating in enumeration
duties during the census.
At least 10 schools,
including some private
institutions, have prevented
their teachers from partici-
pating in the enumeration
process and notices have
been sent to the school
managements seeking clar-
ifications, a senior corpora-
tion official said.
Schools that fail to send
their teachers for the census
exercise will be prosecuted
under section 11(1) of the
Census Enumeration Act of
1948, the official said. The
corporation will also take
action against teachers who
are deputed for census duty
but avoided enumeration
and training sessions.
An official communiqué
from Ripon Buildings list-
ed Vivekananda Vidyalaya
in MKB Nagar and Peram-
bur, VOC Higher Seconda-
ry School, Alandur CSI Mi-
ddle School and Fathima
Matriculation School in Sa-
idapet, Dr Dharmambal
Middle School and St. Pet-
er’s School in Royapuram,
St. Gabriel HSS in Broad-
way, Veerasavarkar HSS at
Vyasarpadi and Gurunanak
School in Velachery as the
schools that were issued
notices in connection with
preventing.
Corporation officials said
the census exercise in city
would commence on Feb-
ruary 9 and continue till
February 28.
Flanked by her friends, MCA rank-holder G. Bhuvaneshwari poses with her
gold medal at the convocation at Raja Annamalai Manram in the city on
Thursday.
Harmony prevails at car
festival held after 18 yrs
DC CORRESPONDENT
COIMBATORE
Jan. 20: The temple car pro-
cession of Kottai
Sangameshwarar temple in
Coimbatore was held after
18 long years with pomp and
gaiety despite stiff opposi-
tion from Muslim outfits.
The Kottai Sangameshwarar
is believed to be one of the
17 temples built by Paran-
thaka Chola in the eighth
century and the car proces-
sion had been stopped for
the past 18 years as the
ratham had developed a
snag. And over the years, the
temple car remained unus-
able as it was not repaired
owing to lack of funds.
However, it was finally
repaired with funds collect-
ed from donations but it
could not be taken into pro-
cession as the police denied
permission. As the proces-
sion route involved passing
through Muslim colonies, it
was feared that even a minor
provocation would trigger a
communal problem. Until
now, only a palanquin was
taken for a procession dur-
ing auspicious occasions.
“This time, after a trial run
on Wednesday, the temple
car was taken through Eas-
waran Koil Street, Perumal
Koil Street, Oppanakkara St-
reet, NH Road and Big
Bazaar Street on Thursday
and covered about 1.5 km.
More than 2,000 devotees
took part in the procession
and pulled the car with ro-
pes,” said the chairman of
— DC
the board of trustees of the
temple, Mr Angamuthu.
Meanwhile, members of
certain Muslim outfits squat-
ted on the district collecto-
rate premises and demanded
that the procession be cance-
lled. “Even though we sug-
gested that the car proces-
sion be taken through Town
Hall, the district administra-
tion and the police had given
permission for the proces-
sion to pass through Mus-
lim-dominated areas,” said
Sahul Hameed, Coimbatore
district secretary of the TN
Muslim Munnetrakazhag-
am.
However, city police com-
missioner C. Sylendra Babu
said that the temple car
procession was incident-
free.
Jan. 20: A visit to Chennai
Central, Egmore and vari-
ous suburban railway sta-
tions shows that the food
has become a costly propo-
sition for the aam aadmi
using trains.
It is very difficult for mid-
dle class and lower middle
class passengers to get food
and water at reasonable
prices. At most of the sub-
urban stations canteens and
IRCTC counters that serve
food at budget prices
remain closed.
Ashish Ittyerah, a student
of a city college, says that
he had to shell out `200 for
dinner when he came to
Chennai Central to board
train for Christmas holi-
days.
“I was told I would be able
to buy food at low prices at
the ‘Janata Khana’ in the
station and I was not
expecting to spend more
than `50,” he said. “But the
foodstuff I wanted was out
of stock. Since the train was
about to leave, I had no
Southern Rly seeks more funds
M. GUNASEKARAN
DC | CHENNAI
Jan. 20: Facing criticism
over the inordinate delay in
completing gauge conver-
sion projects across the
state, the Southern Railway
has asked the railway min-
istry to enhance financial
allocation substantially to
finish the on-going works
on time.
According to sources, the
Southern Railway authori-
ties have submitted their
“There are three to
four outlets provid-
ing food at budget
prices at Central
and Egmore. My
inspections proved
that food is availa-
ble all the time.
Water is also provi-
ded at `3 per litre.”
S. Anantharaman,
Chennai DRM
option but to rush to the
nearest fast food joint and
buy burgers spending near-
ly `200.”
Members of various rail
passengers associations
demand
`1,652 crore The
Southern Railway
authorities have sub-
mitted their wish list
ahead of the budget.
wish list ahead of the bud-
get. Informed sources said
the SR demanded a whop-
ping `1,652 crore for the
coming financial year, for
three major heads — new
mint money.
“Projects to modernise
our railway station should
not be implemented by for-
getting the common man,”
says T. Ravikumar, presi-
dent of All India Bus and
Train Passengers Associa-
tion. “The poor cannot pay
`12 to `15 for a bottle of
mineral water and use
unsafe water from taps.”
Mr Ravikumar added that
Southern Railway should
take steps to ensure that
Janata Khana was served
round the clock and also
open more IRCTC food
counters at suburban sta-
tions.
However, Chennai divi-
sional railway manager
(DRM) S. Anantharaman
said there were three to four
outlets providing food at
budget prices at Chennai
Central and Egmore. “My
inspections proved that
food is available all the
time,” he said. “Water is
also provided at `3 per
litre.”
line, gauge conversion and
doubling. The SR got an
allotment of a meagre `313
crore, despite its request for
substantial allocation. In the
previous year too it got an
initial allotment of `238
crore.
The ongoing works and
projects cleared by the rail-
way board requires a finan-
cial allocation of `2,789
crore for gauge conversion
in various sectors including
Tiruvarur-Karaikudi, (`684
crore); Madurai-Bodi (`281
Kovai still
a dream
Chennai, Jan. 20: Facing
severe shortage of coaches,
the Southern Railway has
failed to introduce the
much-awaited Duronto
Express — a non-stop train
from Chennai to Coimbat-
ore — even 10 months after
the railway minister
promised the special in her
railway budget last year.
The proposal to augment
more coaches in some tra-
ins had not been impleme-
nted due to shortage, offi-
cial sources said. Railway
minister Mamta Banerjee
had announced that a non-
stop super fast train would
be introduced from Chen-
nai to Coimbatore. At pre-
sent, all trains on this route
are overflowing on almost
all days. When contacted, a
senior official said they had
another two months to
operate the service.
crore); Dindigul-Pollachi-
Coimbatore (`558 crore)
and Sengottai-Punalur
(`315 crore).
Official sources said a mi-
nimum allotment of `1,000
crore was essential to expe-
dite the ongoing works.
AIADMK MP M. Tham-
bidurai told DC that TN was
getting a raw deal for the
past several years. “Tamil
Nadu has been fully neg-
lected by the railway min-
istry. We will try our best to
raise the issue,” he said.

busy schedule
Foetus in baby’s
stomach removed
JANANI SAMPATH
DC | CHENNAI
Jan. 20: In a bizarre inci-
dent doctors at the institute
of child health at Egmore
performed a surgery and
found a foetus in the stom-
ach of a four-month old
baby, which was removed
later. The condition, which
is quite common, is known
as a parasitic twin or foetus-
in-fetu where one baby is
malformed while the other is
healthy.
Nirupama (name changed)
a resident of Tiruvanna-
malai, delivered a baby boy
four-months ago. But gradu-
ally, over the weeks, the
child developed severe
bouts of abdominal pain.
The baby’s stomach began
to swell abnormally day-by-
day and he was constantly
crying. Following this, the
child’s mother admitted him
to the institute of child
health 10 days ago com-
plaining of abdominal dis-
A canine of the bomb squad being taken around tension.
the Marina to check the Republic Day arrange- Doctors who inspected the
ments on Thursday. — DC infant suspected it to be a
problem of an enlarged kid-
ney or hydronephrosis and
performed various tests that
had negative results. “We
diagnosed a cyst and per-
formed the surgery Wednes-
day afternoon and were sur-
prised to find a partially
formed foetus measuring 14
x 7 cms inside the cyst,” said
Dr Muthukumar, who was a
part of the surgery team
headed by Professor Madha-
van.
When the cyst was later
sent for examination, the X-
ray showed bones and fin-
ger-like structures including
a scalp with hair.
“When the mother was
pregnant the zygote divided
into two and one foetus
developed fully into a baby
whereas the other was
malformed and started to
grow inside the child after it
was born,” explains the doc-
tor.
The team of doctors
assured that the child is fine
after the surgery and he
would be discharged in a
few days.
The hospital had a similar
case 15 years ago where the
doctors successfully per-
formed a surgery and
removed the parasitic twin.

ILLEGAL SAND MINING

Villages on road to despair

K. KARTHIKEYAN
DC | CHENNAI
Jan. 20: Illegal sand quarry-
ing in Palar river has result-
ed in several villages near
Chengalpattu being cut off
from the nearby town.
Villages like Vallipuram,
Alavai, Pinnapattu and
Anur, located along Palar
River 15 km away from
Chengalpattu, mostly rem-
ain isolated from the nearby
Tirukazhukundran town.
The state-run transport cor-
poration too ceased its oper-
ations to the villages recent-
ly due to the poor condition
of the roads mostly damaged
by overloaded sand lorries
that carry beyond the per-
missible two units round the
clock.
“The trucks and
carts have min-
imised transport
facilities to the vil-
lages besides dam-
aging pipelines car-
rying water to
Tirukazhukundram
municipality from
Palar river.”
Over 200 bullock carts
take sand from prohibited
areas of the river, causing
substantial damage to the via
duct that conveys Veeranam
water to Chennai from
Neyveli and the causeway
across Palar River. Worse,
the carts unload sand on the
main road, allegedly block-
ing traffic movement much
to the frustration of the vil-
lagers who get into frequent
quarrels with the sand mafia
over the same.
The trucks and carts have
minimised transport facili-
ties to the villages besides
damaging pipelines carrying
water to Tirukazhukundram
municipality from Palar
river. Dozens of school chi-
ldren had to squat on the wo-
rn out roads in protest rec-
ently to get a few buses ply
through their area. Though a
few TNSTC buses started
plying after the battered
roads were covered with
mud and levelled, the situa-
tion is back to square one
owing to unchecked sand
lorry movement, Vallipuram
panchayat chairman V.C.V.
Ravikumar complained.
Almost a week back, Mr
Ravikumar submitted a peti-
tion to the Kancheepuram
district collector, but to no
avail as the overloaded lor-
ries still use the roads round
the clock and the bullock
carts have virtually parked
themselves on the road. Mr
Ravikumar accused the sand
mafia of mining near water
sources and bridges even
within 10 metres as against
the 500 metres stipulated by
the Madras high court. It
takes a painstaking hour an
half for villagers to reach
nearby Maduranthakam and
Tirukuzhikundram that are
just 15 km away, as they
have to take a major detour,
Mr Ravikumar said.