The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Coastal retaining wall necessary: Barnala

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 12, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Coastal retaining wall necessary: Barnala

By Our Staff Reporter

NAGAPATTINAM, JAN. 11. The construction of coastal retaining wall along the Tamil Nadu coast is necessary to prevent natural calamity like tsunami, the State Governor, Surjit Singh Barnala, said today.

Talking to mediapersons at the helipad after visiting the tsunami affected coastal villages of Akkaraipettai and Keechankuppam here, Mr. Barnala said: ``I discussed with the Prime Minister about the construction of coastal retaining wall along the coast. The Prime Minister said he would consider the proposal.''

``Since the cost of the proposal will be very high we may require assistance from international financial institutions like the World Bank,'' Mr. Barnala said.

Afforestation

Asked about the possibility of afforestation in the coastal areas, the Governor said that when he was the Union Agriculture Minister he had successfully experimented such a programme in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh coast. Trees such as casuarinas, cashew that could withstand the cyclone could be planted along the coast.

The State Government was taking every effort to provide best relief to the affected families. ``I visited Akkaraipettai village. The damages are very high. I spoke to fishermen and I saw the relief work. The State Government is trying its best to provide relief to the affected families,'' Mr. Barnala said.

Mr. Barnala arrived at Nagapattinam by helicopter. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, the president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Bibi Jagir Kaur, and Darshan Singh Dhaliwal, an NRI who contributed huge amount for the relief work accompanied him.

Immediately after his arrival, Mr. Barnala proceeded to the Circuit House here and discussed with Shantha Sheela Nair, Secretary to Government, Rural Administration and Local Administration department, who is in charge of overall relief operations in the Nagapattinam district and the District Collector, J. Radhakrishnan, about the relief work. He also saw the temporary sheds put up in Nagapattinam where nearly 500 affected families were provided shelter.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu