The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Ooty-Coonoor road

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Monday, Mar 17, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Ooty-Coonoor road

I refer to the report ‘Ordeal on Ooty–Coonoor road to end soon’ (March 11). Most of the roads in Ooty are like patients hospitalised for major operations, and the healing time could be much longer than expected. Considering the long-term benefits, people put up with the ordeal without being fussy. But the ‘Season’ is knocking on the door, and, on top of it, we cannot rule out a couple of summer showers which could mess up the whole thing if the road repair works are not completed by then.

P. U. Krishnan,

Udhagamandalam.

Teaching of English

English should be given importance from the school level itself. Only then will students joining higher education be able to express their thoughts in English without difficulty. School syllabus should include biographies, novels, short essays etc. Eminent authors such as Macaulay, Dickens, Jane Austen, and George Eliot should be included in the English syllabus. Only dedicated and competent teachers should handle the discipline. Now-a-days English is taught by teachers who do not have knowledge of phonetics and depth in modern grammar. Only English literature graduates with a flair for literature should be appointed as English teachers.

M.S. Sankaran,

Palani.

Callous TNEB

I had purchased a site in the DTP approved layouts in Kuniamuthur village on March 29, 1996. In 1998 I was shocked to find an electric line drawn across my vacant site. It was, however, removed on my representation to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) authorities only to be laid again after three years. After many telephone calls, letters and visits to the TNEB office at Kuniamuthur, the assistant executive engineer and the assistant engineer inspected the site and orally asked me to remit Rs. 500 initially and after a few days Rs. 9,030. I was orally promised that the amount would be refunded to me after the removal of the line.

The amounts were remitted on December 22, 2005 and January 23, 2006. The electric line was shifted from the site but the refund was not given.

I again took up the matter with the TNEB. A vigilance officer visited my house on May 3, 2006. After this I received a letter dated May 15, 2006 from the assistant engineer stating that the work was treated as deposit contribution work (DCW) and that there was no possibility of the amount being refunded to me. The Electricity Board had taken the power line across my site without my permission or even an intimation to me. They had also misguided me about the refund. I had again represented to the Chairman, TNEB, Chennai, to refund the amount and not to penalise me for a mistake committed by the TNEB employees. But so far the Board officials have not even replied to my letters. I am afraid I will have to seek a redressal through a court of law.

P.K. Karthiyayani,

Coimbatore.

Family cards

I got my name and those of my daughter and son deleted from my father’s family card as required by the civil supply authorities to enable me to apply for a family card for myself since I got married and set up my own family. My husband is an NRI in Sharjah. I got a token (no. 2586 dated 10.10.2006) for my application for the new card. The Government recently announced that family cards for all new applicants had been issued up to 31.12.2007. I have been waiting for nearly a year-and-a-half for the card. I am unable to apply for a gas connection without it. Many visits to the north zone taluk office have only resulted in a vague and evasive reply that I will be intimated as soon as cards are received from ELCOT, Chennai. Till today I have neither received a card of intimation nor any information as to when I am likely to get my family card.

Sujatha. S,

Coimbatore.

Cotton mills’ future

Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) Chairman has asked member mills to cut down spinning production by 25 per cent owing to the high price of cotton, low price of yarn and the heavy loss because of high cost of inputs. Small spinning mills are planning to close down their units if the present situation does not improve. They have asked the Government to take suitable steps to stabilise the industry. Karur weavers want to stop production because of the high price of yarn and the low demand for cloth. Cotton growers are not interested in cultivating cotton thanks to economic reasons. Such a scenario does not augur well for the growth of the cotton textile industry. The following steps will help the industry come out of the red: Encourage farmers to cultivate more cotton with proper inputs to increase profitability; procurement of cotton by a government agency directly from farmers without involving middlemen to stabilise cotton price; export cotton only after meeting the domestic demand; and restrict the mushroom growth of cotton spinning mills.

R. Viswanathan,

Coimbatore.

Improve infrastructure

Coimbatore city is growing rapidly. However, it is depressing to note that its infrastructure development is far from satisfactory. The only road which seems to get attention is Avinashi Road. The construction of a huge mall with multiplex theatre on Brooke Bond Road will generate traffic of more than 500 vehicles back and forth. The road and the Avinashi Road flyover will not be able to cope with this sudden increase in traffic. Brooke Bond Road should be widened by putting up a divider. The flyover should be altered too. The Corporation need not wait till the mall is ready leading to chaotic traffic. The time to act is now.

Pratap Gokuldas,

Coimbatore.

Halt trains

Nilgiri Express and Cheran Express coming from Chennai Central to Coimbatore halt at North Coimbatore station for a very few minutes. Passengers find it difficult to get down from the train because of this. North Coimbatore Railway Station is near many city areas like Ram Nagar, Sai Baba Colony, Tatabad, Sivananda Colony, Gandhipuam and so on. Hence, the railway authorities should consider halting the trains at North Coimbatore station for at least five to seven minutes which in no way will affect the time schedule as the next halt for these trains is the Coimbatore main junction. I request the authorities concerned to look into this.

R. Ragavan,

Coimbatore.

Nightmare in train

I and my wife travelled from Coimbatore to Bangalore by Kanyakumari-Bangalore Express on February 9 night. We had reserved berths in the sleeper class. There was a mad scramble when the train arrived at 11.30 p.m. - one hour late. I would like to make the following points for the railway authorities to ponder over. 1. Is it too much to expect a pest-free coach? There were cockroaches of all sizes crawling all over. A weekly pesticide spray can eliminate them. 2. A ticket examiner came to check our tickets well past 12.30 am, disturbing the passengers who were asleep. 3. At Erode and Salem a lot of passengers boarded the coach and many occupied whatever little space there was. Passengers were sleeping under the wash basin, in the aisle and even at the entrance of the toilets. One exit was blocked by dumping about 11 pieces of luggage. When a sleeper coach can accommodate only 72 passengers how can people with no berth allocation be allowed to board a sleeper coach at dead of night?

I want the Southern Railway authorities to reply to my points.

S. Sunder,

Coimbatore.

BSNL cash counter

BSNL has closed down a cash counter in the premises of the Saibaba Colony Telephone Exchange. A large number of subscribers in and around Saibaba Mission area used to pay telephone bills at this counter, since payments for BSNL mobile phone bills are not accepted by the nearby post offices. The closure of the Saibaba Colony Exchange cash counter has made many subscribers suffer. This vital facility should be restored immediately.

K.D. Viswanaathan,

Coimbatore.

(Readers can mail to cbereaders@thehindu.co.in with address and phone number)

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