The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Power cut

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 22, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Power cut

Not a day passes without power failure in our area – that too two to three times every day. But at the Central Studios sector street lights will be on even at 7.30 a.m. After 10 a.m. electricity will be switched off indiscriminately. Electricity has become the lifeline of everyone. But who cares for the people.

K.K. Lakshmanan,

Tiruchy Road.

Podanur road

The battered Podanur Main Road leading to the railway station has been neatly relaid much to the relief of the residents of Podanur. Six new culverts have also been built. However, nothing has been done to facilitate flow of rain water and drainage from the nearby colonies. Huge lumps of debris are also lying on either side of the road. Attempts are being made to level this surplus debris which will further raise the bunds on either side of the newly-laid road leading to water stagnation on the road. The age-old Raja Vaikal close to the police station has been blocked by some vested interests leading to heavy block in the drainage and in the newly-constructed culvert. It is flooded to the brim and is waiting to spill over any time. During the rainy season the road will be heavily flooded. All heavy vehicles coming from and going to Kerala use this stretch and Nanjundapuram Road. The newly-laid road will be damaged once again if the water stagnation problem is not addressed immediately.

N. Bernard,

Podanur.

Only on paper

A double whammy by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) and TWAD Board has certainly queered the pitch for the festive season! First, the Piloor pipeline burst for the third (or is it fourth?) time. An assurance that repairs have been completed and supply will resume soon. Meanwhile, the TNEB has resorted to unannounced power cuts, two and three times a day, since over a week now. It is only thanks to The Hindu (October 14) that we know there is an acute power generation problem in the State. One does not hold a grouse against failures caused by circumstances that are largely beyond the control of the authorities concerned. What certainly irks is the fact that the citizen is taken for granted as assurances remain only on paper or as in the case of the TNEB we are kept in the dark, literally! The citizens of Kovai are mature enough to appreciate a genuine constraint and one needs to remind the authorities that it is only trust that begets trust.

M. Vania,

Sowripalayam.

Rain woes

On Monday (October 14) when Mettupalayam Road was lashed by a torrential rain at 4 p.m. the situation in Coimbatore North was horrible. The huge milling crowd of people, including men and women, waiting for buses for hours to go to Kavundampalayam, Tudiyalur, Mettupalayam, etc. were helpless. Road sides were flooded.

The huge potholes covered by the rushing rain water proved to be death traps. A man who fell into such a hole luckily escaped since it was not too deep.

The scheduled buses did not turn up. When an occasional bus (route numbers 4, 11 or 32) came, there was a mad scramble to board the already crowded bus, and many, including old men and women, travelled on it, precariously standing on the footboard.

Literally people were at the mercy of the elements. It was all poor management. Any special arrangement to meet the emergency was conspicuously absent. Are there no spare buses to be pressed into service in a critical situation such as this?

S. Venkatachalam,

Kavundampalayam.

Water supply

Though the information that Siruvani tank has been overflowing for nearly three months now is heartening, drinking water supply has not improved for the better in suburbs like Sharada Nagar and a few other housing colonies here. We get water only once in nine days and are forced to buy borewell water at exorbitant rate. Authorities should streamline the supply.

B.R. Shetty,

Kovaipudur.

Good work

Traffic police have taken good measures to control traffic on Avinashi Road flyover.

However, they should take care of lights, garbage and leakage of water from trains through railway tracks in the lower side of the flyover. Otherwise their efforts will be futile.

R.M. Palaniappan,

Vellalore.

Blessed are they

Anasuya Menon’s report on a wounded horse (Oct. 11) was heart-warming.

The determined efforts by three students of Lisieux Matriculation Higher Secondary School in the city in rescuing a seriously-wounded horse lying in a pool of blood on the road and entrusting it to a proper agency for treatment stirred one’s soul.

However, one is surprised at the callous attitude of the owner of the horse who left the animal in the lurch. Authorities should take action against such cruelty.

A. Ranganathan,

NGGO Colony.

Too good to be true

Your report on plans to ease traffic in Coimbatore city sounds too good to be true. It is heartening to note that another approach to the airport via SIHS Colony has been planned. This is bound to be beneficial for passengers from Tirupur south, Palladam and Kerala and Coimbatore citizens on Trichy Road. This will also help decongest Avinashi Road which is already overloaded with traffic. If all that is mentioned in the report is implemented, our city will look like any other city in the developed world. Such excellent planning by the District Collector, the Police Commissioner and the Corporation Commissioner needs to be implemented with sincerity and dedication. Only then will our hopes come true.

Pratap Gokuldas,

R.S. Puram.

(Readers can mail to cbereaders@

thehindu.co.in with address and telephone number)

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