Rs.70.75 lakh for street lighting

Salem:The Salem Corporation has decided to improve street lighting in the city at an estimated cost of Rs.70.75 lakh. The plan was prepared following repeated complaints from the people that a number of areas, particularly the added areas in the city, lacked streetlights.Residents have complained that they were facing difficulties in accessing streets, which lack street lights, during the night hours. Women and children find it unsafe to walk after dark in these areas. Several incidents of theft have been reported. “Lack of enough streetlights provides criminals an excellent getaway. It also leads to accidents,” citizens pointed out.

Hence, the civic body has planned to install streetlights in the following places: Burn Standard & Co branch road to Dalmia Board, Tata Colony to Tiruvagoundanur Bypass Junction, Tiruvagoundanur Bypass to Sivadapuram Branch road, Seelanaickanpatti Junction to Kondalampatti Junction and Kondalampatti Junction to Sivadapuram Branch road.The civic administration would allot funds for installing streetlights from its General Fund. The Corporation Council, which met here recently, had given its approval for the plan, officials said.Better lighting in the streets and main roads would help arrest growing incidence of crime under cover of darkness, officials added.

Meanwhile, citizens urged the Corporation to replace the tube lights with sodium vapour lamps in important roads and lanes. They also appealed to the Corporation to ensure the proper functioning of streetlights. They said that the number of streetlights installed in a few parts was grossly inadequate. They wanted the Corporation to provide adequate number of lights for all the parts.

Over 3,200 power connections to be provided to farmers

Dharmapuri: The district administration has fixed a target to provide 3,263 electricity connections to farmers under various government schemes in the current fiscal. About 500 connections have been provided till date, said Collector Pankaj Kumar Bansal here on Monday.The State Government has sanctioned Rs.20 lakh to sink 51 borewells in panchayats selected under the Anaithu Gramam Anna Marumalarchi Thittam (AGAMT). The district administration was installing Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) and solar-powered lights in panchayats selected under AGAMT instead of lamps using conventional sources of energy.

It has installed about 1,657 CFL and 113 solar-powered lights in the panchayats so far. The Collector asked panchayat presidents to install solar-powered lights to cut down their monthly electricity bills. Mr. Bansal instructed officials concerned to expedite drought-relief works in Pennagaram, Palacode and Karimangalam blocks and submit a report on the same to the district administration.The Collector also instructed them to accord top priority to SC/ST self-help groups, widows and women deserted by their husbands while selecting beneficiaries under various government schemes.

Heavy rain hits normal life in the Nilgiris

Surplus water released from the Emerald Dam near Udhagamandalam on Monday has partly submerged a temple. (Right) The job of keeping the lawns inside the Government Botanical Garden in Udhagamandalam attractive has been made difficult by the incessant rain.Heavy rains and bitter chill have affected normal life in various parts of the Nilgiris.While the Pandiyar-Punnampuzha river and many of the streams in Gudalur and surroundings were overflowing, water has touched the brim in most of the dams near here. Minor landslips occurred in some areas and storm water entered a few houses in parts of Gudalur, including Vedanvayal and Puranavayal.

Stating that the district administration was in a state of preparedness to tackle any eventuality, the Nilgiris Collector, Santosh K. Misra, told mediapersons here on Monday that the flood control centre at the Collectorate would function round-the-clock. For any assistance, people could contact phone number: 2444012.In view of the inclement weather, the Education Department was instructed to close schools in Ooty, Kundah, Pandhalur and Gudalur taluks for half-a-day on Monday. If the weather continued to be hostile, appropriate precautionary measures would be taken by the authorities concerned.

During the 24-hour period ending 8.30 a.m. on Monday, Avalanchi received 312 mm of rainfall, Upper Bhavani - 175, Naduvattam - 164, Gudalur - 145, Devala - 110, Glenmorgan - 102, Kundah - 49 and Ooty - 24.Among the dams where water has touched the brim were Upper Bhavani, Avalanchi, Emerald, Kundah, Pykara and Kamaraj Sagar. The Parsons Valley Hydel Reservoir was almost full.As a precautionary measure, surplus water from the Emerald Dam was released on Monday.Since some persons were either residing or cultivating crops on lands along the water course, the officials of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board have been asked to inform the revenue authorities about plans to open the sluice gates of the overflowing dams.

Pointing out that since the beginning of the current wet season 28 dwellings had been fully damaged and 265 partially damaged, he said that relief had already been distributed to 273 persons.The government has been requested to provide more equipment to the Highways Department to clear road blocks.To a question, Mr. Misra said that trees uprooted by the strong winds over the last two months which were lying on the roads in different parts of the district were in the process of being removed.He said that steps would be taken to ensure that the uprooted trees or stumps did not pose a danger to motorists or pedestrians.

Meanwhile the continuous overcast conditions and incessant rains have become a source of concern to the authorities in charge of the Government Botanical Garden here. Stating that the planting operations for the Autumn season had been completed, the Manager of the garden N. Mani said that a dry spell would be most welcome since some of the young plants were on the verge of rotting.The weather had also made the task of maintaining the lawns very difficult, he added..

Children's home inaugurated

Vellore:A children’s home, constructed at a cost of Rs.15.71 lakh on the premises of the Old Age Home run by the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) at Poigai in Vellore, was inaugurated by Sri Sakthi Amma, managing trustee of Sri Narayani Peedam, Thirumalaikkodi, on Saturday. Vellore Collector Dharmendra Pratap Yadav presided. Susheela Suryaprakash, secretary of — Special Correspondent.

Site for Collectorate inspected

Salem:Agriculture Minister Veerapandi Arumugam (right) inspecting the District Collectorate in Salem on Friday. Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam inspected the site for the proposed building for the Collectorate complex here on Friday.The Minister accompanied by Collector N. Mathivanan and District Revenue Officer M. Rajarathinam, inspected the blue print for the multi-storied Collectors complex that was expected to come up in 18 months. The old building, which was 200 years old had developed cracks and declared unsafe for the functioning of offices anymore.

Officials from the Public Works Department (PWD) explained to him the salient features of the plan. The new complex would come up in the existing premises itself for which the government also had sanctioned the required sum. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi will lay the foundation stone for the project on Sept 14.The Minister also inspected the Tirumanimuthru river and sought clarifications from officials concerned regarding the proposed over bridge near Apsara here. He instructed the officials to expedite the works of various development works in the city and district.

Madurai gets Rs 795 Crore !

The Madurai Corporation has got Union Government’s sanction for various works at an estimated cost of Rs. 795 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
“It is only our Corporation that has got the sanction for 50 per cent of the estimated cost of City Development Project (CDP) under the Mission within a year,” the Corporation Superintending Engineer, K. Sakthivel, told reporters on Wednesday.

Stating that officials of Madurai Corporation were prompt in preparing the detailed project reports for various development works that helped in getting sanction from the Union Government at the earliest, he said, “Out of the Rs. 1,477 crore CDP we have got sanction for works worth Rs. 795 crore in a year.” Chennai and Coimbatore are the two other cities in the State to benefit from the Mission.

“Madurai will become a beautiful city in two years on completion of these works,” the Mayor, G. Thenmozhi, said.Among the sanctioned works are the on-going second drinking water pipeline from Vaigai dam to the city (Rs. 69 crore), solid waste management (Rs. 74.23 crore), construction of three check dams across the Vaigai river (Rs. 4.77 crore), improvement of living conditions in slum areas (Rs. 130 crore) and resettlement of slum-dwellers (Rs. 35 crores) (to be implemented by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board).

Besides renovating and lining 11 drainage channels running through the city, storm water drainage channels for 820 km would be constructed at a cost Rs. 251.39 crore. The Mayor, Deputy Mayor, P.M. Mannan, and the Corporation Commissioner, D.J. Dinakkaren, who participated in the Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee meeting held on July 20 in New Delhi got sanction for laying underground drainage for left over areas, renovating old UGD schemes and sewerage treatment plant at a cost of Rs. 231 crore.

Special camps for patta transfers

Tiruchi:The district administration will organise special camps for patta transfers in various places from July 24 to 30.The camps would be organised on July 24 at the office of the Revenue Inspector at Navalpattu, Srirangam, V. Periyapatti, Manachannallur, Thuraiyur and Thatheingarpettai. It would be held on July 25 at Tiruchi Town, Valanadu, Keezhanbil, Amur and Thottiyam.

The camps would be conducted on July 26 at the Revenue Inspector offices at Lalgudi, Erakudi and Elurpatti, while it would be organised at Pannapatti, Kannanur and Pulivalam on July 27.On July 30 the camp would be held at Kariamanickam.An official press release issued here on Monday said that the public could submit petitions connected with patta transfer in person. The patta transfers would be effected after verification of the original documents from the petitioners.

89 water projects to be implemented in Tuticorin

Tuticorin: The Collector, R. Palaniyandi, has said that a total of 89 drinking water supply projects would be implemented in the district on an outlay of Rs.4.21 crore earmarked under the Individual Power Pump Scheme (IPPS), during the current financial year.Speaking to reporters here on Monday, he said that a submersible pump, borewell, pump room, an overhead water tank, supply pipes and public taps would be established under each of the 89 projects, to augment water supply to as many number of locations/places.

On other drinking water projects envisaged for the current fiscal, he said that under ‘special schemes’ category, water supply would be established to 36 schools, 16 Adi Dravidar colonies and three boys hostels for Backward and Most Backward Classes, at a cost of Rs.1.22 crore.Likewise, rejuvenation of 30 water sources situated across the district would be carried out at a cost of Rs.60 lakh taken from the corpus of ‘special schemes’.Dr. Palaniyandi said that the administration plans to augment the drinking water supply to Kovilpatti town at an estimated project cost of Rs.35.96 crore and establish a combined water supply scheme (CWSS) for Perunkulam and Sawyerpuram town panchyats at a cost of Rs.2.02 crore.

The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the two schemes had been prepared by Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board. The reports were recently sent to the TWAD Board head quarters for approval.He said that water supply improvement works were planned at Kayalpattinam Municipality too, similar to the scheme chalked out for Kovilpatti municipality.The Collector said that underground sewerage schemes (USS) would be established soon at Tiruchendur Town Panchayat and Tuticorin Municipality at a total cost of Rs.57.62 crores.

A new sewerage scheme for Tuticorin Municipality was mooted as the existing scheme established in 1985 covered just 20 per cent of the total area under municipal limits.“We are planning to establish USS at Kovilpatti and Kayalpattinam municipalities too in a phased manner,” he added.

Ooty badly in need of a facelift

A badly damaged part of the main road at Charing Cross in Udhagamandalam.With just a few weeks left for the curtain to go up on the Autumn tourist season in this holiday destination, concern over the lack of efforts to make the place presentable has started growing among the people here.A view shared by residents representing a cross section of the society was that the appearance of the town had never been as deplorable as it was now. Emphasising the need to start work forthwith on giving a much-needed facelift, they said that it should begin at Charing Cross on the threshold and end at the Ooty Lake on the far end of the own.

Focus should be on repairing the roads and improving the footpaths, many of which were not serving their purpose now. The standard of sanitation and hygiene should be high in the town and places where people congregated. The civic amenities should be more than adequate.Pointing out that tourism played a major role in ensuring the economic well being of the hill station, people in the travel and tourism industries said that only if steps were initiated immediately on a war footing could Udhagamandalam be made presentable by early September, when the tourist season would begin.

The officials particularly in the civic administration should not shirk their responsibilities by pointing a finger at the wet weather, they said and contended that the weather cannot be blamed for all the ills plaguing the town.For the sorry state of affairs pertaining to Udhagamandalam rapidly turning into a huge ‘septic tank’, the municipality is finding fault with the sloppy manner in which the Restricted Sewerage Scheme was implemented about 12 years ago. Meanwhile the hapless people are at their wits’ end.

They said that inter-departmental coordination was the need of the hour and if need be a special committee should be constituted. Though Udhagamandalam was badly in need of a face lift even associations which claimed to represent the people such as the Citizens Forum of Ootacamund were doing precious little to galvanise the officials into action. Though the Public Awareness Association of Udhagamandalam was repeatedly focussing attention on the shortcomings in the town, remedial measures were conspicuous by their absence, they said.

Citizens forum president Motilal Kataria said that the Forum was not a ‘silent spectator’. Efforts made by the forum periodically to draw the attention of the authorities were being stonewalled.Udhagamandalam Municipal Commissioner Seeni Ajmal Khan said though the unfavourable weather and funds were a constraint efforts were on to spruce up the town. He said the drawbacks at Charing Cross would be set right within a few days.

TN Govt will encourage new industires in tier 2 cities

Chennai:The Tamil Nadu Government will encourage new industries to come up in tier-2 cities and in south Tamil Nadu to ensure uniform development across the State.Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, in an interaction with The Hindu on Thursday, said the Government had set apart sufficient funds for developing infrastructure in tier-2 cities as well as the industrially-backward south Tamil Nadu.The Nanguneri industrial park was one of the many places which could be looked at by industrialists, he said.

Though not much work was done after the announcement of the development of an industrial park there, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government had focussed its energies on improving facilities in the area.These efforts would ensure that infrastructure was in place at an early date, he said, adding that the problems of low voltage were being addressed seriously.“Once the 10,000 transformers are in place and the planned sub-stations are operational, we will have no voltage problems. We are at it,” the Chief Minister said when asked about supply of quality power to industries.

The road network was being given attention simultaneously so that there could be no problem in the transport of finished goods from industries.Also, in consultation with the Centre, expansion of airports in tier-2 cities was being actively pursued. In fact, the State had an integrated plan to develop infrastructure across tier-2 cities and the improvements were being closely monitored from Chennai by a committee headed by the Chief Secretary. These facilities would be in place soon and hence there was no need for industries to concentrate around Chennai, he said.In fact, the Chief Minister talked about the need for industries to move to tier- 2 towns when the new team of office-bearers of the Confederation of Indian Industry made a courtesy call on him at the Secretariat early this week.They too agreed with his views that dispersing the industries across the State would ensure that the fruits of development reached all sections across the State.

LBP canal water release

Erode:The Tamil Nadu Government has decided to release water into LBP canal’s ‘odd’ sluices and Chennasamudaram’s ‘even’ sluices for special wetting for 15 days. This has been conveyed in a Government Order issued on the evening of July 20.According to the GO, 2,981mcft (million cubic feet) of water will be released from July 23.The water is expected to give life to sugarcane, turmeric, tapioca, sunflower and coconut.

Power from waste project not powered up

Chennai:The bio-methanation plant near the Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex.The pilot project to produce electricity from the Koyambedu market’s green waste is not functioning at optimal levels, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) officials have said. The agency that clears garbage from the three wholesale complexes has complained that traders do not use the appropriate spots for dumping garbage, often leaving the waste on the floor.Leafy waste such as banana leaves, packaging material which forms a bulk of the disposed material, and muddy green waste cannot be used for power generation, officials said. A vegetable retail chain is also sending some of its waste to the plant currently, but that forms only a small percentage.

The seasonal change in availability of vegetables and fruits also drastically reduces the amount of waste that is usable. The plant, that was to be run 20 hours a day at full capacity, sometimes runs for five to six hours.The CMDA was already saving substantially on the transport of waste to the Kodungaiyur dumping ground, possibly as much as Rs. 13 lakh a year, the officials estimate. However, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Bill (TNEB) bill for the Koyambedu Market Complex was expected to be almost entirely offset by power generated. Officials said that the amount debited for each unit of electricity given to the TNEB as against each unit consumed was lower by Rs. 2 or 3.

The TNEB has said that adjustment for making the costs ‘equal’ is not its policy. The Rs. 5 crore bio-methanation plant was commissioned late in 2005 following an estimation that 30 tonnes of green waste daily would be sufficient to produce 250 kilowatts (KW) of power per hour (One KW per hour is one unit of electricity). Some 40 per cent of this power would be used to keep the plant running and the remainder be exported to the TNEB. These numbers required some intelligent guesswork, as this was the first time such a project was being attempted, officials pointed out. Three quarters of the project cost was funded by the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources.

Since the Wholesale Market Complex generates up to 100 tonnes of garbage a day, it was expected that 30 tonnes of garbage suitable for power generation could be easily segregated. One percentage each of flower, fruit and vegetable waste is required to provide non-fibrous green waste that could be disintegrated into smaller pieces. This would be ‘digested’ in a plant that would produce methane from the waste and the gas operates an engine to produce power.With the time for handover by the contractor who undertook design and construction drawing near, the CMDA will now have to consider such measures as supplementing the waste fed to the plant with hotel waste. A meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday to discuss the course of action. More than 1,000 students would have visited the plant in the nearly two years when it has been in operation and the Pune Municipality is considering replication of the project.

5 mins for birth certificate

Salem:Salem Corporation will speed up the issue of birth and death certificates, thanks to its e-governance initiative.The civic body has started computerising the issue these certificates.After the implementation of the facility, the residents will be able to get these certificates within five minutes, Corporation Commissioner M. Jayaraman said. The Corporation has created a database with records obtained from its offices in the wards and hospitals from 2003. If the residents submit the applications along with the fee, the information will be fed into the database immediately. If the Corporation records and the details in the applications match, the certificates will be issued immediately.

This will eliminate unnecessary delays in the issue of the certificates, the Commissioner said. At present, residents have to wait for more than a day to obtain the certificates after submitting applications.The Corporation officials are not able to process the applications quickly as the manual verification of the records takes a lot of time, civic officials said. Officials further said that the civic body had planned to establish an additional counter at the rainwater harvesting centre in its main office to receive applications and issue birth and death certificates.The Corporation received a large number of applications seeking birth certificate recently, as the schools were demanding it for admissions.

Meanwhile, the Corporation had already implemented computerised tax collection as a part of its e-governance initiative. Steps were being taken up network the banks and enable the residents to remit taxes at the banks.It was also proposed to offer value added services such as payment of telephone bills and electricity charges through the tax collection centres, civic officials said.

Trade centre is must at Tiruchi

Tiruchi:The Tiruchi District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (TIDITSSIA) has impressed upon the Small Industries Development Corporation of Tamil Nadu to set up a trade centre in the city on the lines of the one at Coimbatore.The request was put forward by a delegation of the TIDITSSIA, led by its president S.Sridharan, to SIDCO Managing Director G.Santhanam, who visited the city recently. The association members have also impressed on him the need for setting up a training centre for existing entrepreneurs so that they could go in for technology upgradation to meet global competition.

The training centre could also be utilised for skill upgradation of manpower, especially for the fabrication industry of Tiruchi which is currently facing an acute shortage of trained manpower.The SIDCO could sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the industry associations for management of the facilities.It was also suggested that a corpus fund be set up for maintenance of the SIDCO industrial estates so that the proceeds from the same could be used for their development.TIDITSSIA representatives said Mr.Santhanam had agreed to the suggestions in principle.

19 town panchayat will augment infra fecili

Tuticorin: Starting this financial year, the Department of Municipal Administration will augment infrastructure facilities in the 19 town panchayats in the district on a total outlay of Rs 9.5 crore in four phases.The Collector, R. Palaniyandi, said that the total allocation would be distributed equally to the administrations of 19 town panchayats at a rate of Rs. 50 lakh, to plug gaps on the infrastructure front in the respective regions over four fiscals ending on 2010-11.Of the Rs. 50 lakh allocated to each town panchayat, Rs. 35 lakh would come from the corpus created under All Town Panchayats Anna Renaissance Scheme and the rest from the Infrastructure Gap Filling Fund under the State Finance Commission Grants.

During the current fiscal (2007-08), the project would cover Kanam, Authoor, Arumuganeri and Sawyerpuram town panchayats.Mr. Palaniyandi said that as part of the scheme, streetlights fitted with energy saving compact fluorescent bulbs and community halls for self-help groups would be established at the respective village panchayats.Besides, desilting would be carried out to augment the capacity of water bodies .The roads would be strengthened wherever it was found necessary.Mr. Palaniyandi said that during the next financial year (2008-09), development works would be taken up at Kazhugamalai, Thenthiruperi, Alwarthirunageri, Sattankulam and Srivaikundam town panchayats.

The town panchayats of Nazareth, Vilathikulam, V. Puthur, Udangudi and Perungulam would be covered in the third stage of the project to be implemented in 2009-10.In the final phase (2010-11), infrastructure facilities at Ettayapuram, Eral, Tiruchnedur, Kadambur and Kayathar town panchayats would be strengthened.A committee headed by the Collector would be constituted to review the progress of development works taken up.The other members of the committee include the Project Officer of District Rural Development Agency, the Assistant Director of Town Panchayats, the Executive Engineer of TWAD Board, the Assistant Executive Engineer of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, the executive officer of the respective town panchayat and the Deputy Director of Health Services.

Water released from Emerald reservoir

Ooty:Water being released from the Emerald Dam, near Udhagamandalam, on Tuesday.Heavy rain over the past few weeks have done a world of good to hydel and drinking water reservoirs in this hill station and its surroundings. However, the rapidly rising levels have forced the authorities to take precautionary measures.With the level having touched the brim in the Emerald reservoir (maximum 179 feet) and no signs of the inflow reducing, excess water was released on Tuesday.

The people residing along the water course had been warned through tom-tom about the release. Since the channel conveying the excess water had been widened standing crops such as carrots and beans had been affected only on a few acres, according to official sources.Pointing out that the situation was being monitored round-the-clock, they said that while the reservoirs at Avalanchi, Porthimund, Mukurthi, Pykara and Piloor were full the Sandynullah reservoir was nearly full and Upper Bhavani was only a few feet away from overflowing.

At the Parsons Valley Hydel Reservoir which takes care of the water requirements of a sizable part of Ooty, the defence establishments at Wellington and some way side villages, the level was 47 feet (maximum 58). The storage in many of the local reservoirs also was satisfactory.

New buildings for police stations

Chennai:The city will soon have new buildings for five police stations, Commissioner of Police Letika Saran said here on Monday. Speaking to reporters after inaugurating a new building for the Otteri police station at Cooks Road, she said Kotturpuram, Red Hills, Madhavaram are some of the stations which would soon get new buildings. The office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Pulianthope, would also function from the Otteri police station buildings, she added.To a query, Ms Saran said that special teams had been formed to nab the culprits who had forcibly taken away a seven sovereign gold chain from a woman who was going on a morning walk in Padmanabhan Nagar in Adyar on Sunday.

The traffic police are examining the possibility of setting up automatic signals at some of the busy intersections in the city. However, she did not divulge the places.Earlier, the Commissioner went around the new building and received petitions from the public. Additional Commissioner S.R.Jangid, Joint Commissioner (North) M.Ravi and other officers were present at the inauguration.

Ultra deluxe bus soon in Salem

Salem:Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam inducted buses in new routes here on Monday.The Minister said that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) regime was carrying out not only its election promises but also other projects for the people.He said that the city would be transformed into ‘Beautiful Salem’ shortly for which various development projects, including widening the roads and constructing flyovers and bridges were planned.

Salem Road Transport Corporation Managing Director Moorthy said that 20 new ultra-deluxe buses and 350 additional buses would soon be inducted into the transport fleet at Salem.Corporation Commissioner M. Jayaraman said that encroachments on road margins would be removed in the city. MLA A. Raja, Mayor J. Rekha Priyadarshini and others spoke.Earlier, the Minister accompanied by officials inspected the Tirumanimutharu river and the demolition of old buildings for the construction of the Super Speciality Hospital.

India and Sri Lanka have decided to coordinate

Ramanathapuram:The Navies of India and Sri Lanka have decided to coordinate their communication network to prevent nefarious activities on either side of the territorial waters.The decision was taken at a high-level meeting of Naval officers of India and Sri Lanka, which took place between the coast off Rameswaram and Point Calimere on board the SLN Sayura, an offshore patrol vessel of the Sri Lankan Navy, on Friday.

The INS Savithiri of the Indian Navy and Habba Khatun, a ship of the Coast Guard, kept a watch as the meeting was on. Several fast attack crafts of the Sri Lankan Navy monitored the movement of boats in their territory.While Commodore Phillip Van Haltren, Naval Officer in-charge, Tamil Nadu, led the Indian delegation, Samaratunga from the Northern Naval Command of Sri Lanka led the team from the island nation.Representatives of the Indian Coast Guard also attended the meeting.Incidents of firing against Tamil Nadu fishermen, reports of smuggling from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka, violations by a section of Tamil Nadu fishermen, who stray into Sri Lankan waters, retrieval of fishermen and fishing boats captured by Sri Lanka and reports of Sri Lankan fishermen entering Indian waters were discussed at the meeting.

Commodore Haltren told The Hindu that the Indian delegation asked the Sri Lankan Navy not to fire upon the fishermen of Tamil Nadu if they entered Sri Lankan waters for fishing. Instead, they could be arrested as per the laws of Sri Lanka.“We informed the Sri Lankan counterparts about the new initiatives taken by the Tamil Nadu Government to regulate fishing boats. We told them that all boats in Tamil Nadu had been given new registration numbers for identification. We asked them to intimate the Indian Navy immediately, if any boat from India indulges in nefarious activities,” he said. When the issue of recent killing of five Kanyakumari fishermen was raised, the Sri Lankan delegation said it had been established that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealem was behind the incident. They [Sri Lankan Navy] claimed that the LTTE had carried out the attack only to discredit the Sri Lanka Navy, Commodore Haltren said.The meeting decided to step up phone-to-phone contact so as to sort out any issue immediately.The mobile phone numbers of naval officers from both the countries were exchanged.

Security System to be installed at Tuticorn Port ..

The Tuticorin port will shortly have an integrated security management system. Under the Rs. 1.3-crore facility, closed-circuit televisions will be set up in 29 places for surveillance of sensitive areas, a radar will be installed for navigational guidance and the access control system will be modernised, Port Trust Chairman N. K. Raghupathy said on Wednesday.