Roadside trees in Fort City facing threat due to indiscriminate nailing

Roadside trees in Fort City facing threat due to indiscriminate nailing

Shanmughasundaram.j

VELLORE:

 

 The next time you see an advertisement board nailed to a roadside tree, it means the tree is facing a slow death. Display boards nailed to trees are a common sight in various parts of the district. But this indiscriminate nailing on trees, according to environmental activists, acts like ‘slow poison’ to the trees.

 

Several commercial establishments, educational institutions and tuition centres have turned roadside trees into their advertisement spaces. In fact, it is difficult to see a tree free from advertisement boards. Even the age-old trees near the Collectorate, District Police Office, District Combined Court Complex and Corporation Office face the brunt of indiscriminate nailing on to them.

 

The silence of the law enforcing agency and ignorance of the public has given free hand to the commercial establishments to abuse the trees.  The officials have also failed to adopt health management of the trees.  

Two persons were found busy hammering the billboards of a private firm onto the trees in and around Sathuvachari in Vellore City on Tuesday. When inquired, the duo said that they have been asked to put up 100 billboards to promote the new offer of their firm. “The billboards put up on lamp posts are damaged or removed within a couple of weeks. So, we prefer to put up the boards on the trees. We have also obtained permission from officials to nail the billboards on the trees,” said one of them.

 

Cementing around the trees, wiring and erecting lamps on the trees would also amount to abuse of trees. It would prevent the supply of nutrition and water to the roots and subsequently result in the decay of the roots leading to the slow death of the trees.  “Tree abusers should be instructed to plant and grow trees for nailing,” said R Raja Rajan, president of the Rotary Club of Vellore (North).

 

Nailing is a cause of concern. It should be addressed to protect the existing well grown trees and young saplings to preserve the biodiversity, opined trustee and founder member of Nizhal, an NGO based in Chennai, Shobha Menon.

 

Nailing, according to the environmentalists, would cause serious damage to the bark of the tree. It is the first line of its defensive mechanism – compartmentalisation – that seals off the wounded part.  Repeating nailing weakens the protective mechanism to heal the wound to the bark. It will ultimately prevent food and water supply to the branches. The wounds will also turn into an entry point for bacteria, tree borer insects and fungus into a healthy tree.

 

The tree abusers retain the nails. “One can find at least 100 nails on well grown trees due to indiscriminate nailing on the species. It will turn into a slow poison and over a period of 6 months to 1 year, the tree will die,” said Dr T D Babu, trustee of Nizhal.

 

Officials of the Vellore Corporation were not available for comment.

Nexus between prison dept staff and inmates clips the wings of Freedom Bazaar

Scam in TN jails forces shutdown of rehab units

Shanmughasundaram J & Subburaj A

VelloreCoimbatore TNN





These convicts were expected to learn a trade by providing haircuts. Instead they found a way to shave off a portion of the earnings from the scheme.Fast food restaurants, barber shops, tailoring units and laundries run by jailbirds as part of a rehabilitation exercise across Tamil Nadu have been shut down after officials unearthed a scam involving inmates and prison personnel.
The decision to close down the units, mostly functioning outside prison premises, was taken after vigilance teams seized lakhs of rupees from convicts during recent raids in the prisons at Vellore, Trichy , Co imbatore and Puzhal in Chennai. The units were run under the aegis of the Freedom Bazaar scheme, which marketed products and services rendered by prisoners, mostly serving life sentences.
Under the project, income earned from various sources was to be deposited in a prison bazaar account. A certain percentage was paid to prisoners as daily wages, while the remaining was meant for development activities in the prison.
The units, intended to provide skill-based training for life after prison, found instant acceptance when they opened. But eventually jail personnel colluded with the prisoners manning the units to siphon off the earnings, said a prison official on condition of anonymity. A raid by a vigilance team in November last was the first to uncover the scam.
“Based on several complaints, prison vigilance teams fanned out across the state to raid prison bazaars. We have temporarily suspended the activities of the bazaars based on their report,“ said a senior police officer, not willing to be named. The bazaars would be opened after the assembly election, he said. “The team seized around `30,000 from the tailoring and ironing units in Vellore prison. The subsequent inquiry divulged that prison department personnel and inmates embezzled the earnings,“ said a reliable source.
The prison department shut down these units inside Vellore jail on Saturday . They were also directed to close a canteen run by the department. Raids at other central prisons over the last few months have exposed similar malpractic es, said another source.
In Coimbatore, jail authorities have shut down a barber shop, a hotel, bakery and a motorcycle stand run by inmates. More than 50 life convicts worked in these units.Coimbatore prison superintendent D Palani said the units were shut down but would be reopened after the assembly election.
A senior official at Vellore Central Prison for Men told TOI that convicts had also siphoned off money earned from selling products in the bazaar units. Officials declined to go into details. “We are closing the units to revamp them.They will be opened after a few months. The tailoring unit will function until it completes the work orders,“ said an official.Chennai Central Prison in Puzhal was the first to open Freedom Bazaar units in January 2014. Others followed, providing avenues to generate jobs for convicts. The Vellore department inaugurated tailoring and ironing units in October 2014.A group of five life convicts ran the barber shop, the first of its kind in the state.
After undergoing training in hairstyling, they began providing services not just for prison and police personnel, but also the public.
Buoyed by the overwhelming response, the prison department also opened a restaurant opposite the prison campus in Vellore which catered to customers from 4pm to 10pm.

High Court rap forces Tamil Nadu cops to buy 'monkey caps' to mask accused

Shanmughasundaram J | Mar 23, 2016, 09.18 AM IST

Tiruvannamalai: Rifles, lathis and handcuffs are permanent assets of a police station. But soon, stations across the state will also keep a set of monkey caps.

The station head officers (inspectors of police) of all the 39 police stations, including six all women police stations, in seven sub-divisions in Tiruvannamalai district have been instructed to buy and stock monkey caps to conceal the identity of the accused while they are escorted to the court, said reliable sources in the police department, citing the SP's oral communication.

The move comes in the wake of a Madras high court stricture against the police department on March 17 for photographs of the accused in the Udumalpet 'honour' killing being circulated in social media and published in a few newspapers. Pictures of the five men, who were arrested in connection with the murder of a dalit youth, appeared in newspapers. A division bench hauled up the public prosecutor for allowing media to take pictures of the accused, despite an HC order forbidding it.

The HC had already directed the director general of police to notify the police stations not to publish photographs of the accused persons, as it will obstruct investigation.

Superintendent of police of Tiruvananmalai R Ponni issued a direction to all deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) and station head officers a couple of days ago to stock up on monkey caps. 'Use monkey caps to hide the faces of the accused while escorting them to the court. In each station, a minimum of five caps should be kept ready', was the direction of the SP communicated to police officers.

A village where there are no party flags

Shanmughasundaram J | TNN | Mar 14, 2016, 08.37 AM IST

TIRUVANNAMALAI: Tucked away from the Vellore-Tiruvannamalai state highway near Santhavasal, Vellur - I has been leading a silent revolution for over four decades now. More than 3,000 villagers here are upholding an age-old tradition of keeping their village free from flags of political parties, their banners and graffiti which otherwise block streets and occupy pavements in other parts of the state.

Much before the Election Commission drafted rules and regulations to streamline the polling process, the elders of this village laid down protocols for the younger generation to ensure that they were away from practices that could divide them, conspicuously , on political lines.

Keeping the tradition alive, residents continue to keep their village free from poll merchandise, graffiti, banners and movie posters. "Banners are allowed only for temple festivals and marriage functions. But, no pictures of film stars or politicians are allowed on these banners," said 18 year-old M Prasanth.

Youngsters in the village are keen on living up to this reputation. "We respect our elders and forefathers. Here, defacing the walls is unheard of. I have never seen members of a political party hoisting a flag. The men here are affiliated to AIADMK, DMK and VCK, but they maintain the village discipline," said 20 year-old Balaji.
Political parties are expected to take permission from the village elders before campaigning. Giving or taking money for votes is prohibited. The villagers have never missed a chance to exercise their voting rights. It records over 90% voting in any election. "The village has close to 1,000 voters. We encourage everyone to exercise their democratic right," said D Velumayilone, a government employee. "We nominate booth agents for the political parties."

In the last assembly election, one of the villagers was fined for letting workers of a political party smear the walls of his house with graffiti. "There is not a single political message on the walls. House owners are not allowed to paint their walls to show their support for a political party by way of graffiti or other messages. Everyone remains together and votes according to his or her wish," said Vasantha, a 

Mar 25 2016 : The Times of India (Chennai) Vellore village decides to boycott polls When the government and officials are not bothered about our safety and livelihood, then  why should we take part in the elections and vote?” asked a group of villagers. Shanmughasundaram J Vellore:   Residents of Peru mugai panchayat in Vellore constituency have been wag ing a war against stone quar ries in the village for more than two decades. With al their efforts to close down the quarries failing, they are now threatening to boycott the as sembly election.The villagers sent a pet ition to Chief Election Officer Rajesh Lakhoni on Thursday stating that they decided to boycott the assembly election Several residents of the pan chayat, which has around 2,500 voters, have signed the petition to exhibit solidarity. The villagers, in the pet ition, stated that they have been demanding the closure of the stone quarries that have severely affected their livelihood and the environment, since 1994. Nonetheless, the government and authorities have turned a blind eye to their anguish, forcing them to boycott the election, they said. The money and muscle power of the contractors and politicians, who run the quarries, is a threat to the villagers' safety. Though the villagers petitioned the district collector, mines and minerals department, chief secretaries, chief minister special cell, police and political leaders numerous times since 1998, the quarries continue to flourish.“At 15 persons were killed in quarry-related accidents since the quarries were opened here,“ said an elderly woman. Murugan Kovil and Ponniyamman Kovil atop the Perumaladi hill have also borne the brunt of blasting and quarrying activities. “ The idol of the presiding deity (Lord Murugan) of the temple developed cracks due to excess use of explosives in quarries. We removed the damaged idol from the temple two years ago,“ said a retired government staff. The villagers also charged that the contractors were colluding with the officials and the panchayat president and reportedly smuggled tonnes of gravels and red sand. “The contractors are not permitted to transport the gravel and red sand from the quarry . But they have been smuggling not less than 50 loads (around 500 units) of minerals per day in the last 10 to 15 years. One unit of gravel is sold at `1,200, “ alleged a villager.

7-yr-old lists out names of all 234 seats in state, becomes EC's ambassador

7-yr-old lists out names of all 234 seats in state, becomes EC's ambassador

Shanmugha Sundaram

Tiruvannamalai:

 





Preethi,a Class 2 girl from Tiruvannamalai district, will soon join the pantheon of stars selected by the Election Commission to promote awareness on voting for the May 16 assembly election in Tamil Nadu.The seven-year-old student of Vilanallur Panchayat Union Middle School, who can recite the names of all the 234 constituencies in the state in less than five minutes, was on Thursday designated the Election Commission ambassador for Cheyyar constituency. She will soon begin shooting for promotional short films on voters' awareness.
“We are encouraging such young talents by giving incentives and recognition. We have 1,200 officially designated college campus ambassadors, students selected to encourage their classmates to get enrolled in the voters' list,“ chief election officer Rajesh Lakhani told TOI. The EC has also roped in many celebrities, includ ing actors Karthi and Suriya, cricketers Ravichandran Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik, and squash champion Dipika Pallikal, to spread awareness among young voters. “We have planned two election awareness videos themed `Know Your constituency' with the child (Preethi). The videos will be filmed in Chennai on Saturday and uploaded on social media and YouTube within two days,“ said Cheyyar subcollector Dr T Prabhu Shankar, returning officer of the constituency .
Preethi, daughter of a farm worker, was the cynosure of all eyes at the `Vaarungal Vakkalippom' programme at Arignar Anna Government Arts College. While the college students in the hall failed to list out the number of constituencies, Preethi reeled out even their names in a jiffy , to a thunderous applause. She then stepped down saying “ Anna and Akka (brothers and sisters), all of you please vote.“
The sub-collector gave away a cash award of `2,100 to the girl.
Preethi's talent had been spotted by Prabhu during her school's annual day on March 4, when he was the chief guest. “I wanted to tap her talent and create a positive impact among voters,“ he said.
Her mother Lalitha said she was thrilled. “I was out of words when I heard that my daughter was appreciated by the officials and made the election ambassador.“
Preethi, on her part, said she was excited to list out the names of the constituencies in front of a large gathering. “My teacher Roosia taught me everything.“
Panchayat president J Venkatesan and headmaster N Palani said Preethi had brought laurels to the school and the village. “I got the list of constituencies in a WhatsApp group. I decided to teach it to Preethi and wanted her to recite it in the annual day programme. She memorised the constituencies' names within 10 days,“ said Roosia.
Venkatesan hoped Preethi would inspire the village, which has around 1,700 voters, to achieve 100% voting.





Mining Scam in the Making

Mining Scam in the Making, This Time by Vellore Quarries

By J Shanmugha Sundaram

Published: 09th November 2015

VELLORE:  Villagers in the vicinity of the three authorised stone quarries operating in Perumugai for over 20 years now, allege that tonnes of gravel and red sand are being dug up and smuggled out from the hills here under the guise of transporting granite stones.

This plundering of natural resources has been going on for several years, they claimed and demanded a thorough probe by a high-level committee. As per rules, permission has to be obtained from the Mines Department to take gravel from the site of a stone quarry and if permitted, quarry operators may have to make a payment for the same.

“Gravel and red sand are in high demand for road-laying works and construction purposes. Quarry contractors illegally smuggle the gravel on the pretext of transporting granite from the sites,” said a retired government staffer in the village, adding that more than 50 loads of gravel and red sand were being smuggled out of the village everyday.

According to him, one unit of gravel mixed with red sand is being sold for Rs 1,200. Six-wheeler trucks carry six units of this mineral in a single trip, while 12-wheeler lorries carry up to 10 units. “Gravel dug up from the hills is being used for road work on NH 46. The person who took the tenders to run the quarries paid around Rs 1.50 crore to the panchayat in the last 15 years. This caused a loss of not less than Rs 1,000 crore during the period, to the State exchequer. A detailed probe will definitely unearth a mining scam similar to the one in Madurai,” said a source in the village panchayat.

Villagers alleged panchayat representatives and politicians were directly involved in the illegal activity.   Though officials are aware of the illegal quarrying of the natural resource, they continue to remain mute spectators. Quarry contractors, backed by politicians, have even issued death threats to anyone raising the issue.

Despite this, the villagers claimed they have submitted at least 40 petitions to the District Collector, the Chief Minister’s Cell and other officials, seeking to restrain the smuggling.

However, no action has been taken so far.

Moreover, the narrow panchayat road being used as a thoroughfare to reach NH 46 by heavy vehicles transporting minerals from the stone quarries, is also being used by students of the Government Higher Secondary School which is accessible through the road. “It is risky for our students to walk along the road as heavy vehicles ply throughout the day. These vehicles are driven in a rash manner. We have taken up this issue with the senior officials of the Education Department, but no action has been taken to restrict the movement of the heavy vehicles,” said a teacher of the school.

District Collector R Nanthagopal gave an assurance that he would direct authorities to look into the issue.