QChennai: Red Alert in TN; Death of 20 Rupees Doctor Mourned
Here is your roundup of the top stories from Chennai.
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1. Red Alert Issued For Tamil Nadu on 7 Oct, Heavy Rains Predicted
Even as many parts of Tamil Nadu woke up to the steady pelting of rain on Thursday, a red alert has been issued for the state on Sunday, 7 October.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department’s map, the entire state is under the alert category, meaning the state must brace for heavy rainfall. As per the IMD’s All India Weather Warning Bulletin, heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy falls is likely at isolated places over Tamil Nadu on Sunday.
Addressing media persons in Chennai on Thursday, S Balachandran, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre said, “A low pressure area is set to form over South East Arabian Sea on Friday, 5 October. It is likely to intensify as a depression and will likely turn into a cyclone over 36 hours and move towards Oman. Chennai and its suburbs will experience intermittent rainfall. For now, very heavy rainfall is predicted in a few places.”
(Source: The News Minute)
2. Kamarajar Port Gets Nod for Expansion from Panel
The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment has recommended environmental and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance for the proposed expansion projects under Phase–III of the Kamarajar Port Ltd (KPL), after receiving certified compliance reports on the project from the Regional MoEF office in Chennai.
The project was earlier recommended for environmental clearance (EC) in May this year, but the EAC sought detailed deliberations on certain critical aspects of the project and referred it for re-appraisal for non-compliance of certain conditions laid out.
The committee noted that KPL had bought the lands for the expansion from TNEB, TIDCO, and the Salt Department. “Hence [there are] no direct project affected people by Kamarajar Port,” according to the minutes of the EAC meeting held on 24 September.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. RK Mutt Road Choked With Mourners of 20-Rupee Doctor
RK Mutt Road in Mandaveli was yet again choked with traffic on Thursday, 3 October.
But this time, it was neither a temple procession nor a party meeting that was causing the hold-up. Hundreds of people from the city and neighbouring districts had gathered to pay respects to the one person who had tended to people beyond the duty of a doctor.
Dr A Jagan Mohan, fondly known as the 20- rupee doctor by locals, passed away on Wednesday after suffering a stroke. The 78-year-old general physician attended to patients as usual on Tuesday, said his family.
“After he complained of chest pain on Wednesday morning, we took him to a hospital and took a couple of scans and tests. But around 10:45 am he suffered a stroke and passed away,” said T Kamalakannan T, the doctor’s son-in-law.
Born in 1940 at Tenkasi, Dr Jagan set up Chandra Clinic on RK Mutt Road in the early 1970s.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
4. Govt to Allow Detention of Cops Under Goondas Act for Abetting Sand Smuggling
The Tamil Nadu government has passed an order that allows for the detention of public officials suspected of abetting sand smuggling, which is rampant in the state, under the Goondas Act. This includes police officials.
The government action comes months after the Madras High Court issued instructions in May this year, warning public and police officials who abet sand smuggling by taking bribes. In what came as an embarrassing observation for the government, the court noted that sand smuggling would not be possible without the active connivance of government officials.
According to the government’s order, the state says that it is keen on preventing sand theft and smuggling with effective and prompt action.
(Source: The News Minute)
5. Parts of Chennai to Experience 7-Hour Power Cut on 5 Oct
Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) has announced power outage in some parts of Chennai on 5 October.
Power will be shut down from 9 am to 4 pm for maintenance work. However, if the works are completed before 4 pm, the power supply will be restored immediately.
(Source: The News Minute)
6. Chennai Ranks Fourth in Metro-Noise List
Chennai ranks fourth noisiest metro behind Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru, according to a study conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board. The study ‘Status of Ambient Noise Level in India 2017’ which was released on Wednesday is based on data collected from 70 Noise Monitoring Stations spread over seven cities. The cities include Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai.
Interestingly, in 2016, the report which was also released on Wednesday, Chennai was the second noisiest city after Hyderabad.
As per the data, the noisiest places are Pallikaranai, T Nagar and Velachery if one goes by the decibel levels recorded in the noise stations.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
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