The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Reader's Mail

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Reader's Mail

Traffic bottleneck

With reference to the report regarding the traffic bottleneck on Doraiswamy Road in T. Nagar (The Hindu, July 24), I wish to suggest the following improvements, which, if implemented, would ensure free flow of traffic.

1. A median/ road divider to be constructed between Doraiswamy Road - Usman Road junction and Doraiswamy Road - Thambiah Road - Brindavan Street junction to prevent vehicles from overtaking.

2. U-turn of vehicles to the left of Doraiswamy sub-way to reach Lake View Road and vice versa to be prohibited.

3. The bus stop near the subway to be removed and MTC buses proceedings towards West Mambalam from Panagal Park to be halted at Panagal Park.

M. V. Saranath, Ullagaram
Chennai

Officials should meet public

Of late it is found that senior officials of the State Government are not willing to meet the public to redress their grievances. Though in some of the offices, there is a board indicating the timings of the grievance meetings, the schedules are not adhered to and the officials do not meet the visiting public citing some pretext or the other including their other pre-occupation with other duties. Therefore the senior officials are guided only by the version of the subordinates, which provides scope for suppression of facts and the reality of the situation. The Police Commissioner and the Metro officials are an exception in this regard and they are accessible to the public and exercise their powers to sort out the problems faced by the public to the extent possible; their approach is really laudable and should be emulated by other departments of the Tamil Nadu Government. If the senior officials adopt a high and mighty attitude and avoid meeting the public the good governance promised by the Chief Minister cannot be ensured. Therefore it is time for the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary to take note of the situation and ensure that all the senior officials of every department make themselves available to the public to hear their problems instead of leaving it to the whims and fancies of their subordinates.

O.G. Krishnamurthy,
Adyar

MIT level crossing

The MIT level crossing gate was removed and an ROB with staircase has come up instead (MIT Flyover). But, the Southern Railway has not constructed a wall at the level crossing site. The public and school children instead of using the staircase of the bridge continue to cross the rail track, which is risky. It is sad to note that even after opening the bridge, the railways are keeping the level crossing track open, which is dangerous. Will the Railway realise the danger, and arrange construction of wall to prevent public from trespassing on the rail tracks?

V. Santhanam
President, Chromepet New Colony Residents Welfare Society,
Chennai-44

Why the prejudice?

The MTNL, New Delhi and Mumbai are offering a concession of 25% in rental for landline telephones of senior citizens for a long time. (Vide MTNL Lr. No. CO(E&C)Tariff/ISD/NTC/2003-04 dt: 1-4-2004 & Lr. No. Coml./CP-II(HQ) Tariff dated 3-9-2004 reg: 25% concession in rental to Sr. Citizens). But in Chennai, BSNL, Tamil Nadu, has not given any such concession.

In the Indian Railways they are providing 30% travel concession to Senior Citizens throughout the country without any discrimination.

Both MTNL and BSNL are governed by TRAI and Ministry of Communication & I.T., Government of India, New Delhi.

Then why should there be discrimination between landline telephone users of senior citizens living in metro cities?

P. Kothandapani,
Ambattur

Wall alongside Adyar bridge

It is a matter of utmost concern to residents like me in Saidapet area when we see in the press reports that amongst the developmental schemes announced by the Local Administration Minister Mr. M.K. Stalin for over Rs. 200 crore, the crying need of the building of a wall alongside the Adyar Bridge at Saidapet and the dangerous and flood prone causeway running along the road leading to Guindy Industrial Estate do not find a place. I have represented this issue on many occasions direct to the officials of PWD and also have invited the attention of the authorities in the letters to the editor columns. I fail to understand why at least an inspection has never been carried out in this segment which is a low lying area and is prone to inundation with the attendant sanitary hazards during the rainy season. With the onset of monsoon round the corner, will the Minister at least pay attention now before it is too late?

V. Ganesh,
Saidapet

Why Post Offices are being closed

Of late columns have been appearing in newspapers about the closure of Post Offices. As responsible Government servants and as Supervisors (Sub Postmasters/ Asst. Postmasters & Postmasters), we would like to furnish the facts on this subject to clear the doubts in the minds of the general public.

The Postal Department is a trusted public service, which has completed its 150th year of unblemished service with the motto "Service before Self".

We do understand and respect the difficulties and problems faced by the general public whenever long serving Post Offices in their areas are relocated or closed for one reason or the other.

Most of the Post Offices have no building of their own and are functioning in rented buildings. But a majority of them are in a dilapidated condition due to litigation. The golden days of people offering their premises for housing Post Offices and feeling pride about it are over. Now nobody is willing to rent their buildings to the Postal Department, as it is not commercially viable for them. The Department of Posts is doing yeoman service as a primary public utility, without a commercial motive like Railways & Telephones, and is managing its affairs prudently with the available resources. The landlords are not willing to carry out the repairs and insist on vacation of the buildings. These are the reasons behind the relocation or closure of Post Offices in City. Of late, the Department of Posts is trying its best to improve its resources and construct its own buildings. Until such time that the situation improves, the general public and socially-minded groups should come forward to offer buildings for housing the Post Offices in their areas.

K. Sarvothaman,
President, Postal Supervisors' Assn., O/o The Chief Postmaster General, T.N. Circle, Chennai-600002.

Damaged causeway opposite Central

The steps in the causeway opposite the Central Railway Station connecting the Government General Hospital are partly broken and slippery. It badly needs new plastering. Any fall from the steps could prove fatal. In the larger interest of patients, elderly people, action is needed urgently.

The Madras Corporation is requested to tackle the matter on a war footing.

N.B.S. Manian,
Secretary, Residents Welfare Association, Manavalanagar-602 002

Direct bus service to Porur

Residents of the localities on both sides of the Kaliammankoil Street between Arcot Road on one side and Mofussil Bus Stand (Terminus) on the other end experience much difficulty getting to places like Valasaravakkam, Porur and surrounding areas as there is no direct bus service. Commuters have to break their journey at Avichi School stop and catch another bus from Vadapalani on the opposite side, crossing the road with great difficulty and at personal risk, especially for children and senior citizens. A direct bus service between Central and Porur, up and down, through Kaliammankoil Street will help the residents to have a safe and quick journey to these places where premier hospitals, railway stations and other important institutions, are located on both sides along the route.

This facility can be made available possibly by suitable arrangements and directions to the existing route buses of 15F, 17A, 17M, 37G etc., now plying to Iyyapanthangal via Porur.

V.P. Govindan,
Virugambakkam

High-tension power lines

Just above the "entrance gate" on the 100 feet road in the inner ring road, of the CMBT/Koyambedu where all the transport buses arrive/leave, the overhead High Tension power feeder grids are at a very low level. The advertisement boards and their lights are also at a unsafe distance. During the monsoon the danger due to these power lines is high.

Will the TNEB officials and the Metro transport officials do the needful to ensure public safety and display a "Danger" sign Board at the above location at the earliest?

V. Ramanathan,
Anna Nagar

Act before the monsoon

The flooding in Andhra, Mumbai and Surat are causing fear in the minds of the residents of Chitlapakkam.

Last year, the whole of Chitlapakkam was flooded. There was waist level water on the roads and the residents were unable to move out of their houses. Water entered the houses and caused damage and loss of property.

The Government should take the following steps to avert flooding and inundation.

(1) Engineers should be deputed to inspect the strength of all lake bunds to prevent breaches.

(2) Desilt the storm water drains.

(3) Ensure perfect operation of the sluice/shutters.

(4) All lakes should be linked so that the surplus water discharged can be stored in the lakes.

Will the Government act before the onset of the monsoon?

P. Viswanathan,
Chitlapakkam Residents' Associations Co-ordination Committee
Chitlapakkam

No phone book since 2003

The telephone directory of BSNL Chennai Telephones was released last in 2003 correcting entries up to 31-12-2002, and it is almost three years now that no further issues have been compiled and distributed to the customers.

Since then many subscribers appear to have switched over to other service providers or surrendered their phones, and the present number of some of the important organizations are not known. When we dial the number of some particular organization listed in the existing directory we get a recorded voice, which says, "this telephone does not exist".

Moreover, changes have been taken place in the exchange numbers of certain areas. As such, one has to seek the assistance of either BSNL enquiry (197) or Talking Yellow Pages (24444444), to get the correct or the present number of that particular organization but, sometimes, with unsatisfactory results. It is high time the BSNL Chennai Telephones brought out a new directory with necessary additions and deletions at the earliest in the interest of its customers and others.

S. Rajan,
Saligramam

Road safety in jeopardy

Since the 13th main road between Senthil Nursing Home and Sri Thirumani Amman Temple is very narrow and always busy with both vehicle and pedestrian movement, in the interest of the safety of the public a traffic constable should be posted there, at least during peak hours until permanent arrangements are made.

Similarly, pedestrians particularly college students and elderly persons, who cross the 12th main road (near Hot Chips) face risks while crossing the road in the mornings since the vehicles coming in all directions seldom follow the signals and go very fast. I request the traffic police to take immediate action to prevent accidents.

Nelvoy N. Varadhan, Anna Nagar

Woes at the pension office

It is painful to see that pensioners who visit the pension pay office located at D.P.I. complex in College Road are put to much hardship when they go to collect their pensions. Nearly 80,000 pensioners in Chennai city come here for their monthly pension and claiming of arrears. It is a pity to see that the present pension pay office is located in a cramped congested hall with staff and their tables, chairs and records taking up all available space, without room for movement for the pensioners. The staff strength is also not enough to cope with the volume of work, which is increasing every month. Computerizing the details of the pensioner's old records are an urgent necessity for this office. Sanction of more computer equipment will solve the unnecessary delay in settling payments of the pensioners. Whenever any vacancy took place due to transfer or retirement of the staff, the post is not filled up and is kept vacant for a long period. We request our Chief Minister to bestow his attention towards solving the pensioners' problems, who are mostly aged and to give such directions to the authorities to set right things by allotting one more hall for the office staff to work as also to sanction more computer equipment to this office to handle things smoothly and quickly.

D. Dasaratharaman,
President Tamil Nadu Public Health
Retired officials Association

Road in bad condition

The road connecting Railway Road with Perambur Railway Bridge is in a very bad condition. Black topping this Road urgently is the need of the hour. The motor vehicles, especially two wheelers, have extreme difficulty in crossing this stretch. Will the authorities pay immediate attention to blacktop this road so that the motorists' nightmare will come to an end?

Miss. S. Divya,
Perambur

Another Post Office needed

Vadapalani area has become a commercial hub with so many hospitals (Vijaya, Soorya & Bharani), shopping malls (Rahat, Dhoshi, Trinetra), A.V.M. Studios and many housing complexes (250 flats in Parameswaran Vihar Army complex, Jain Housing, Siddharth Heights etc) coming up.

This vast area is at present catered for by Vadapani, Saligramam and Virugambakkam post offices more than 2 km apart. The public, especially senior citizens, find it extremely difficult to commute to these far flung Post Offices. A new Post Office may be located near about the interjunction of Arcot Road and Arunachalam Road.

Malaya Krishnamurthy,
Arcot Road, Chennai

Misuse of LPG cylinders

Much has been talked and written about the arrest of the misuse of the domestic LPG Cylinders, by commercial establishments such as hotels, tea shops, and other roadside vendors. We feel this can be eradicated by retaining the red colour for domestic cylinders, with the colour of the commercial cylinders painted green or blue, or even black, which can be identified by the Public as well as the numerous Welfare Associations, who can immediately inform the officials about misuse for further action. We are very sure this will create a fear amongst the establishments and they will avoid misuse of the domestic LPG cylinders.

We feel if the Ministry wants to sincerely eradicate the misuse of the domestic LPG cylinders, they can implement this suggestion.

G. Natarajan,
Ambattur Consumer Association

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