The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Reservation counter will benefit many

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Monday, May 19, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Reservation counter will benefit many

There are nearly one lakh people living around the Washermanpet railway station, but there is no ticket reservation counter there. There are several government hospitals, including the Stanley Medical College and the RSRM Hospital, and several government offices and institutions in the area. A reservation counter at the Washermenpet station would benefit a lot of people in north Chennai.

Mullah Sattar Muneer

Old Washermenpet

This tax is not easy to pay

Payment of property tax to the Chennai Corporation is not an easy task and small property owners are put to a lot of hardship. One can pay Metrowater tax by cash anywhere, in any zone in the city and payment records are updated and maintained systematically.

Such facilities are not available in the Corporation. Payment is to be made only by cheque/DD and cash payment is not accepted even in zonal offices.

Most banks require people to maintain a minimum balance of Rs. 1,000 for cheque book facility and to pay a commission for a DD. Though we pay property taxes promptly, payment details are not updated and we continue to get arrears demand notices, forcing us to maintain payment record for years together.

V.R. Sundaram

Saidapet West

Low voltage

Jai Balaji Nagar Extension, Nesapakkam, is experiencing low voltage problems and we have experienced voltage as low as 175 V at nights in the last fortnight. Costly electronic and electrical equipment could get damaged. When we spoke to the Area Engineer of KK Nagar, he expressed his inability.

He said this was the situation during summer and consumers would have to adjust accordingly. The situation is not prevailing in areas such as T. Nagar, Mambalam and other parts of the city. The Ramavaram SS is situated just a kilometre away from our area. Installing an additional transfer would ease the situation.

C. Sampath

Nesapakkam

Shortage of coins

Of late, some of the MTC bus conductors demand commuters to have 50 paise coins ready even before issuing tickets. If they do not have the exact amount for the fare, they do not return the balance. Though the conductors may not have enough coins, passengers must not lose their money due to the problem.

I suggest that the MTC authorities must have a tie-up with Reserve Bank of India for obtaining sufficient coins. When there is a shortage of coins, conductors may issue 50 paise tokens to the passengers that can be used for purchasing ticket next time or exchanged in the nearest bus depot. Otherwise, the ticket amount must be rounded off to the nearest rupee instead of Rs.2.50 or Rs.3.50.

V. Nagasundaram

Anna Nagar West

Bus stand without route board

Last month, a new bus stand was opened at Chromepet. More than 20 route MTC buses stop here. As the administration has not put up a route board all the buses stop at the entrance of the bus stand. This causes lot of inconvenience to commuters. We request the MTC to immediately notify the bus routes, so that they can wait and board at the particular point.

V. Santhanam,

president Chromepet New Colony RWS, Chennai

Power failure in Nagalkeni

There is frequent power failure at Nagalkeni. Nearly five to six times power supply is disrupted, from 30 minutes to 1 hour everyday. It disturbs the entire production activity of leather industries in the area.

About 20,000 families in Nagalkeni are the worst affected by the power failure.

It will be better to shut down the power supply for a day or two every month to carry out maintenance work. When we contact the TNEB office, the stock answer is “The feeder has tripped”.

We have experienced power failure every day for the past 2 months. We request to the TNEB to ensure uninterrupted power supply to all consumers.

A. L. Venkatachalam

Chromepet

New ration cards elusive

It is heartening to read newspaper reports on the elimination of several thousand bogus ration cards. While both the Civil supplies Department and the ELCOT are claiming credit, several genuine residents who have applied for new ration cards as early as 2006 are yet to receive them.

Many residents of Annanagar Western Extension and Mogappair are made to run from pillar to post to get a new card.

Till date, they do not know the fate of their applications. They have not received any communication about the status of their applications. Minister for Food and Civil Supplies had announced that the applicants could apply afresh. One resident has done it, but it had little effect.

A letter from our Resident Welfare Association, addressed to the Assistant Commissioner of Civil Supply, Ambattur, though acknowledged, has been put to cold storage. Will the Commissioner of Civil Supplies look into this and arrange for the issue of new ration cards?

V. Rajagopal

Annanagar West

Gauge conversion work dragging on

It is disappointing to know that the gauge conversion work between Chennai to Thanjavur would drag on till the end of this year. All important pilgrim and business centres had been cut off for the past three years, putting the public to untold sufferings.

The railways should expedite this project without further delay.

A. Jagannathan,

Nanganallur

More trees needed

In the hot weather, one finds it extremely enervating to walk on the city roads. Only a few parts of the city have trees on both sides. No doubt, there is awareness of planting more trees and the government and good-intentioned institutions are extending full cooperation in this regard.

Still, a majority of the roads are without any shade-giving trees. Pedestrians and two-wheeler riders find it suffer the most. The government could take more steps to help grow trees.

J. Manohar Singh,

Adambakkam

Care for the aged

As a senior citizen of advanced age I read with interest the article “Senior – citizen need care, not money” (May II). I fully endorse the views expressed by the author.

The number of senior citizens living alone with or without spouses is on the rise these days. They need timely help in an emergency such as medical aid and even in meeting day to day needs. India is not too kind to senior citizens, though the government is run by aged ministers and politicians.

P. V. Srinivasan,

Sastri Nagar

Rail platforms need wall clocks

Southern Railway has to be praised for improving the various passenger amenities in the Beach-Tambaram sector by reconstructing platforms, installing legible timetables at stations, except at Nungambakkam and Chetput. But there are no wall clocks at platforms to see the timetable timing.

T. T. Varadarajan,

Thillaiganganagar

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