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Readers' mail

New ration cards

Sir, — When I handed over my application form for a new ration card at 88 Veppampattu (Tiruvallur district), on February 20 the civil supplies department employee collecting the forms refused to accept it because it had been filled in English.

When I drew her attention to the clarification by a civil supply official, published in The Hindu dated February 15, she reluctantly accepted my form and told me not to blame her if I did not get the new card. She also told the same thing to those who had filled the forms with blue ink, affixed colour photo, or had erased mistakes with a whitener. I do not think any one of the above factors should matter in issuing new ration cards.

A.Krishnaiah,

89 Veppampattu,

Tiruvallur district

Needless hardship

Sir, — The residents of Sastri Nagar and neighbouring areas such as Thiruvanmiyur, particularly senior citizens and the handicapped, are facing difficulties in getting the forms to renew their ration cards. They have to go all the way to the Office of the Assistant Commissioner Civil Supplies in Venkatesa Agraharam, Mylapore.

I suggest that this may be done in the ration shops in their areas during the time given for renewal of cards.

P. V. Srinivasan,

Sastri Nagar

Courteous response

Sir, — I wish to place on record the prompt and efficient work done by an official and staff of BSNL.

On February 2, my telephone number 26412495 was changed to 26612572 and the subordinate staff on duty could not give a convincing reason for the change. As the change took place after office hours I could not contact any senior official.

At about 9-00 p.m., I spoke with a senior official of Kellys exchange and explained my problem. He gave me a patient hearing and promised to look into the problem. On the next day (Feb. 16) at about 10-30 a.m., my old number was restored.

The senior official with whom I spoke had the courtesy to ring me up to ascertain whether the problem had been solved.

S. Kalyanasundaram,

Purasawalkam

Hanging pipes on the road

Sir, — Old Mambalam Road in West Saidapet is very narrow and is always crowded. The density of traffic is high and one has to be extremely careful while walking on this road. Compounding the problems is an electrical transformer on the road and two pipes hanging at less than six feet height. The pipes may be raised suitably to avoid problems for pedestrians.

V. R. Sundaram,

Saidapet West

Traffic signals in north Chennai

Sir, — In south Chennai, the arterial roads and thoroughfares have automatic signals. This is not the case with north Chennai where the density of traffic is no less. Of course we have one at the Ayanavaram-Konnur High road junction. When are we going to have signals at Perambur, Agaram, Retteri, Kolathur or beyond Mint junction, Vyasarpadi etc?

B. Santhinathan,

Jawahar Nagar

Cholavaram Nagar's woes

Sir, — The authorities appear to be unconcerned by the pathetic condition of Cholavaram Nagar under Pammal panchayat (now upgraded to a Municipality). Piped water supply to houses is irregular. Garbage is not cleared regularly and mosquitoes proliferate. Though the youths belonging to our association clean the streets, the disposal of refuse is a problem. There is no proper drainage system. No panchayat official pays attention to these problems. But the panchayat collects taxes.

R. K. Panicker,

president,

Cholavaram Nagar welfare assn.,

Chromepet.

Introduce new bus service

Sir, — Residents of West Mambalam have to depend on buses on route no 12G to get to Luz. 12G buses are always crowded. A M-Service from Mandaiveli to Guindy via Luz, Pondy Bazaar, West Mambalam, Ashok Pillar, with a frequency of 15 minutes, will be helpful. It will be a boon to residents of Mylapore also. Likewise an `M'-service from Ashok Pillar to Adyar on route "5-E" will be welcome. Buses on the 5-E route are overcrowded and the frequency is less.

T. S. Rajendran,

Ashok Nagar

Motorists ignore

traffic signals

Sir, — It is sad that the traffic signals on the Poonamalle High road stretch are not being followed by fellow citizens, particularly the well-educated. The key signals on this stretch are in Aminjikarai, Taylor's road, near Kilpauk Medical College and Ripon buildings. The police find it difficult to regulate traffic during peak hours as the drivers are undisciplined.

In places where there is heavy traffic two policemen must be posted with powers to punish the offenders. Whatever steps are taken to ensure smooth flow of traffic, the motorists must cooperate to make them successful.

B. Vivekanand,

Kilpauk

Coaches for women in EMUs

Sir, — I would like to narrate the difficulties experienced by women who make use of suburban train services.

An EMU consists of 8 cars or 9 cars and one does not know whether an incoming train has 8 cars or 9 cars. In 9-car trains, the V coach is earmarked for women. Two thirds of the II and VIII coaches are also meant for women.

Generally these compartments are overcrowded. The 5th coach is in the middle of the train. On seeing a 9-car EMU a woman has to run back and forth. This has to be done within the 30 seconds of the prescribed halt. The railway should run only units with nine cars and make the women's compartment the 3rd or the 7th coach.

C. Vallinayagam,

Nanganallur

Uncovered pits spell misery

Sir, — In Ambattur contractors engaged in drainage work have dug deep, long trenches that stretch in front of every house. These trenches have not been covered.

The progress of work is very slow. Many children have had a fall into these trenches. Old people, and women are unable to hop over these pits. Vehicles have been rendered useless because they cannot be taken out of houses.

Due to poor lighting, accidents take place often. The district Collector, Tiruvallur is requested to visit Ambattur and set the matter right.

O.R. Dwarakanath,

committee member,

Consumer Council of India,

Ambattur

Bazullah Road needs repair

Sir, — The Bazlullah Road (better known as Bazullah Road), T. Nagar is in a very bad condition with pits, potholes and ups and downs. I wonder how it has gone unnoticed by the Corporation for more than 6 months.

The middle part of the road needs immediate repairs and tarring to enable the public to reach the offices, banks and restaurants located here without difficulty.

Parking of vehicles along both sides of the road makes the situation worse.

Md. Hashmathullah Sayeed,

Mylapore

Corporation's shoddy work

Sir, — In order to tar the Tirupur Kumaran Street, Perambur (Division No.34) the Corporation had removed some of the obstructions such as foot steps to the houses and small trees on the sides with a bulldozer on January 29 late in the night. While doing this, EB supply cables to some of the houses were damaged. At Door No.21/1, the EB carelessly disconnected live cables. It being a 3-phase supply connection, a fire broke out due to short circuit. The entire 3-phase EB meter, fuse carriers and other electrical installations in the board were completely burnt and power supply went off. The EB authorities restored the supply only after we had paid the charges for a new meter, after a day. Fortunately, none of our people was injured and no damage was done to the house by the fire.

M. Venkatesan,

Perambur

Increase frequency of 18K

Sir, — Buses on 18K route plying between Saidapet West to Parrys corner are very infrequent. In addition, some buses on 18K route are converted as K18 and operated between Saidapet West to Parrys corner via Ekkattuthangal and Guindy. As a result, the commuters have to wait for a long time during morning peak hours between Govindan Road and C.I.T. Nagar.

I request the MTC authorities to introduce more 18K services from Saidapet West to Parrys corner via Aranganathan subway. I also request the MTC to introduce a direct bus service from Saidapet West to Tambaram via Aranganathan subway, at the earliest.

Hema Govindarajan,

West Mambalam

A problem for pedestrians

Sir, — Of late the two-wheeler traffic through the foot bridge connecting Indra Nagar water tank junction and Tidel Park road has become so heavy that pedestrians passing through this stretch are at the mercy of the two-wheelers. Hundreds of pedestrians make use of this footbridge including students of Taramani educational institutions, commuters of MRTS service, etc. During the peak hours, the footbridge is choked with two-wheelers and there is no space for pedestrians to pass. The risk posed to the pedestrians from the two wheelers through the narrow bridge is considerable. The two-wheelers could very well use the road leaving this to the pedestrians and cyclists.

I request that the footbridge be closed to two-wheeler traffic and left for the exclusive use of pedestrians and cyclists.

K. Girish,

Adyar

The fall in standards

Sir, — I read in your columns that the model question papers for the Plus I course are yet to reach the schools. However, the design seems to be in circulation. Many reasons have been given for the deteriorating standards in the level of achievement among the State Board students. As a teacher since 1952, I can say with confidence that one of the main reasons for the fall in standards is the design of the question paper evolved when the Plus II course was introduced.

In the days of the British and till 1956, we had a good design in the old intermediate course. Thanks to an eminent Vice-Chancellor, the design of the paper was continued even after the introduction of the Pre-University course. It appears that somebody wanted a change for change's sake and the maximum marks of a 3-hour paper was changed to 200 instead of 100. Nobody ever thought of the havoc that it might cause, since it was considered to be an insignificant change, but now it is there for all of us to see. I request the authorities to design the question papers of 3 hours duration for 100 marks and undo the damage done since 1976.

B. R. Subramanian,

Ashok Nagar

CMWSSB reply

1. The following are the replies to letters on non-supply of water from the Public Relations Manager, CMWSSB, Mr. P. Swaminathan.

This refers to non-supply of water to houses in Ramaswamy Street in Depot 142, raised in The Hindu of Jan. 31. There are 48 houses in the street. After improvements, the entire street except 8 houses are getting sufficient piped water supply. As an alternative measure, 2,000 litres of water supply is being made through lorry on alternate days to cater to the needs of the above residents.

2. This refers to the letter on non-supply of water in L.B. Road III Cross, in The Hindu of Feb. 7. It is proposed to lay 100mm dia CI water main for a length of 90mm at West Avenue and to interconnect the 100mm dia water main with the 450mm dia water main at Canal road to improve water supply at Lattice Bridge III Cross street and the adjacent streets.

The work will be completed shortly. After completion of work the residents of the above said street will get water through the pipeline.

Till then, mobile water supply will be made.

3. This refers to the non-supply of water at premises No. 23/9, Subbraya Chetty II Street in The Hindu of Feb. 7.

Action has been taken to renew the choked pipeline of Subbaraya Chetty III Street and the work will be completed early. On completion of the work all the residents of the Subbaraya Chetty III Street will get piped supply. At present, to supplement the need of the above street water supply through 9000 litres tanker lorry has been arranged on alternate days.

4. This refers to the letter on defective water supply in The Hindu of Feb. 7. The service line leakage noticed in the Velachery Main Road was attended to on February 4 itself. Now the complainant is getting normal water supply.

5. This refers to the letter that residents of "F" Block in Anna Nagar East do not get water through the pipeline (The Hindu of Feb. 7).

The "F" Block in Anna Nagar East consists of 8 streets. The residents of 1 to 7th streets and part of 8th are getting water supply through hand pumps; the remaining part of 8th street is affected due to inadequate pressure in the pipeline.

Once the water position, the residents of "F" Block will get water for the sump connection.

Railway reply

With reference to the letters that appeared in the Reader's Mail column of The Hindu dated Feb. 21 under the headings given below, the Chief Public Relations Officer, Southern Railway, Mr. S. Krishnamoorthy writes.

(1) Harassed by eunuchs: The incident narrated by Mr. R. Chandrasekar occurred on the outskirts of the Secunderabad railway station, which comes under the jurisdiction of the South Central Railway.

The complaint has been forwarded to the authorities of South Central Railway for further action.

However, in Southern Railway, we have alerted the Railway Protection Force personnel who monitor train services, to heighten their vigil against beggars and other nuisance factors.

(2) Not enough coaches: 100 MRTS services are run everyday with four 3-car rakes and one 6-car rake. In order to cater to popular demand in the MRTS section we will be converting one more 3-car rake into a 6-car rake shortly.

(3) Infrequent train services: We are now running 216 services between Chennai Beach and Tambaram and 52 services between Tambaram and Chengalpattu with broad gauge EMUs.

More EMU rakes are expected to be pressed into service shortly.

We will increase the number of services as soon as we get the rakes.

89 Veppampattu,

Tiruvallur district

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