Karunanidhi said he had already drawn the Prime Minister's for stationing of an offshore patrol vessel with an helicopter at Tuticorin under the exclusive control of the Coast Guard (Eastern Command) to operate in the Gulf of Mannar and the Indian Ocean.
He also wanted infrastructure facilities for refuelling at Tuticorin Airport. The Coast Guard should be permitted to use the facility, he added.
A month-long skill development training by the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) to about 1,300 rescued child labourers studying at 33 special schools functioning in the district, concluded on 24th April.
M. Nallaperumal, Project Director, NCLP, told that the children were given training on different trades such as embroidery, tailoring, carpentry and manufacturing of bouquet, baskets, soap powder, soft toys, cleaning powder and dolls.
"Specially trained master trainers imparted coaching to the children, to help them merge with the mainstream of life once they completed their formal education," he added.
He said that a total of 507 child labourers were rescued in the district since 2003-04. Mr. Nallaperumal said that the NCLP has evolved new strategies to eradicate child labour in `homes and hospitality' sector during the current financial year.
The district administration has chalked out a "contingency plan" seeking drought relief to the tune of Rs. 4.24 crore from the State Government to overcome drinking water problem in 408 village panchayats during summer this fiscal.
Collector R. Palaniyandi said that the plan document was prepared based on an analysis carried out in the village panchayats spread over 12 panchayat unions, with emphasis on habitations/areas where rainfall was less in 2006 vis-à-vis 2005.
The plan proposes establishment of 277 new borewells at a cost of Rs. 1.05 crore, 50 power pumps and water distribution facilities at Rs. 1.88 crore, extension of pipelines from existing water supply systems to drought hit areas at Rs 44.95 lakh, construction of service reservoirs at Rs 61.6 lakh and rejuvenation of unused borewells at Rs 24.16 lakh to augment drinking water supply to village panchayats.
Of the 277 new wells, 56 were planned at Karungulam block to cover 31 village panchayats, which was followed by 49 wells for 44 panchayats under Pudur block, 37 for 24 panchayats under Sattankulam block and 28 wells for 45 village panchayats under Kayathar block.
The remaining would come up at village panchayats under Srivaikundam, Alwarthirunageri, Udangudi, Kovilpatti, Ottapidaram and Vilathikulam blocks.
As regards establishing power pumps, the Collector said that the administration had proposed for 12 numbers covering 25 village panchayats in Tuticorin block, 13 for Kayathar block, seven for Sattankulam block, six for Karungulam, four for Ottapidaram, three for Vilathikulam, two each for Pudur and Tiruchendur, and one for Srivaikundam block.
Overhead tanks were planned at Sattankulam (13 numbers), Karungulam (6), Pudur (5) and Srivaikundam (2).
Dr. Palaniyandi said that infrastructure development work would be taken up at 82 village panchayats under the Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam during the current fiscal on an outlay of Rs. 20 lakh for each panchayat.
The alumni of Municipal Middle School on North Bhathirakaliamman Koil Street in Tuticorin City, who passed out between 1952 and 1959, joined again on the school premises after almost five decades at a `reminiscence meeting' on Sunday.
Of the 124 students, who came out of the school during the period, 85 turned up for the first reunion meeting. 9 teachers of the period were present in the occasion.
At the get-together, the `students' floated an alumni association under the initiative of A.H. Balakrishnan, an alumnus.
During the last 25 years, enrolment came down heavily.
"Presently, the school had only 100 students against a strength of 900 students studied in an academic year three decades ago," an alumna said.
The association had set plans to set up corpus funds to carry out infrastructure development works in the school in association with the Department of Education to attract more students to the school.
A musical extravaganza and dance performances by 10 visually challenged artistes of Fani Crosby Melodies troupe, marked the cultural programmes conducted by the Jesus Cares Ministries, a Coimbatore-based organisation, in Tuticorin City on 21st April.
Started with `Ithuvare seytha seyalkalkake... ', the troupe sang a total of 12 Christian devotional songs.
Other major numbers included `Darsanam Tharavendum... .'.
Albert (keyboard), Muthukumar (keyboard), Marisamy (tabla) and Dharmaraja (rhythm pad), scored background music to the vocal of Bheemaraja, Sheela Remijious, Lakshmi and Thangamari.
While Govindan performed `karakattom', Rakesh did enthral the audience with his folk dance numbers.
Thangamari, who sang beautiful numbers, proved that she was a good dancer too with her Bharatanatyam sequences.
Cultural programmes and martial art display marked the annual day celebrations of the Government Music School and Jawahar Bal Bhavan in Tuticorin on 21st April.
Students of the school performed Bharatanatyam and vocal concerts, while the wards at Jawahar Bal Bhavan came out with dance numbers and did karate performance.
Teachers at the school, Sivakama Selvi, Selvakumari, E Mubarak and Raviraj, co-ordinated the events.
The Collector R. Palaniyandi distributed certificates to the students of the school and Jawahar Bal Bhavan, who finished winners in the cultural and sports competitions conducted recently.
Sivakalai, headmistress of the school and programme officer of Jawahar Bal Bhavan, said admission to certificate courses in various music and dance classes offered by the school would commence on June 1.
The candidates aged between 12 and 25 years could enrol for the courses.
Scholarships would be offered to students belonging to Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes and SC/ST categories.
"For more details on courses, interested candidates should contact the office at phone number 9443810926," she said.
The carcass of a whale washed ashore at Veppalodai coast near here on Sunday evening, was identified as a `Sperm Whale' by a team of scientists from the Fisheries College and Research Institute (FCRI) on April 16th.
The study by C. B. T. Rajagopalasamy and N. Jayakumar, professors at FCRI, revealed that the whale had died at least four days ago and hence the species was identified using external characteristics.
V. K. Venkataramani, Dean, FCRI, said the whale belonging to the family of `Physeteridae' had a length of 10 metres and weighed 20 tonnes.
The entire functional teeth, numbering 22 pairs, were in the lower jaw, and the upper jaw has sockets to fit in those teeth.
Regarding the cause of death, Dr. Venkataramani said that the whale might have entered the inshore waters here abundant in juvenile fishes such as sardines, anchovies and cuttle fish.
"Since its body was damaged extensively, there was a possibility of collision with a ship or a boat and getting stranded in the inshore waters which is not deep," he said.
According to him, remote sensing methods should be applied to locate and save the whales, which get stranded in the Gulf of Mannar, since it is an endangered species.
A total of 202 permanent houses, constructed by Development Promotion Group (DPG), a Chennai-based non-governmental organisation, on an outlay of Rs. 4.64 crore at Ceylon Colony and Azhagapuri near here, were handed over to tsunami victims of Terespuram and Madhavan Nair Colony on Saturday.
The Minister for Animal Husbandry, Geetha Jeevan, handed over the keys of the houses to the beneficiaries in the presence of the District Collector, R. Palaniyandi.
Each house, with a plinth area of 416 sq.ft., has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 2.30 lakh with a hall, a bedroom, a kitchen, a toilet, a sit-out and a staircase. While Diakonie Emergency Aid, Germany financed the construction of 134 houses, Church Development Services, Germany, funded for 58 houses. The Association of Confederation of Credit Unions, Bangkok, assisted the construction of remaining 10 houses.
Besides providing land for the project, the district administration has constructed an overhead tank with a capacity of 30,000 litres and erected 10 public taps.
According to the Chief Executive Officer, DPG, R. Bhakther Solomon, his organisation, which established 14 self-help groups among the 202 beneficiary families and disbursed Rs. 1.50 lakh as micro-finance, had distributed fishnets worth Rs. 5 lakh. Besides, the DPG was running a childcare centre with 25 children and a tailoring training unit with 20 girl trainees.
"Construction of a small community hall, strengthening of SHGs with additional training and micro-credit, establishment of a garment production unit will be taken up in the new residential colony in the coming months," Mr. Solomon said.
Source: The Hindu
The administration has identified 4,858.65 acres of wasteland spread over eight taluks for free distribution to landless agricultural labourers at the rate of two acres per person as announced by the State Government, says Collector R. Palaniyandi.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Monday, he said that 83 special teams comprising officials from the departments of revenue, agriculture and its allied departments identified the land meant for distribution.
Of the total 4,858.65 acres identified, 1,094.18 acres falls under Kovilpatti taluk, 386.99 acres under Sattankulam taluk, 37.48 acres under Tiruchendur taluk, 54.88 acres under Srivaikundam taluk, 35.03 acres under Tuticorin taluk, 1,311 acres under Ettayapuram taluk, 1,560.34 acres under Ottapidaram taluk and 378.01 acres under Vilathikulam taluk.
The process was on to identify the beneficiaries and the distribution would begin on August 15.
An `interactive virtual classroom' via an U.S. satellite was launched at Sakthi Vinayagar Hindu Vidyalaya School in Tuticorin City on 9th April.
This was the first time that the concept was introduced at a school in the district, said K. Palanisamy, school secretary. The system would aid students to interact with education experts in New Delhi and Chennai. The facility was installed in association with Everonn Systems India, New Delhi," Mr Palanisamy said.
Presently, students of Standards XI and XII could attend sessions in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. "There will be four 40-minute sessions every day. The facility, expected to improve the students' communication skills and general knowledge, would be extended to other classes during the ensuing academic year in a phased manner Plans were afoot to arrange interactions between students and resource persons from Coimbatore and Madurai too.
Source: The Hindu
Projects to the tune of Rs. 109.66 crore to be taken up this fiscal.
The Tuticorin Port Trust would focus on infrastructure development, traffic improvement and human resources development to improve overall performance during the current fiscal, its Chairman, N.K. Raghupathy, has said. he said that infrastructure development worth Rs. 109.66 crore would be taken up this fiscal.
Of the total cost, Rs. 50 crore would be earmarked towards dredging at Inner Harbour to increase draught to 12.8 metres, Rs. 5 crore each for procurement of a tug and improvement of roads, Rs. 20 crore towards construction of Berth 9, Rs. 5 crore for replacement of few cranes and Rs. 4.6 core for other continuing schemes. The remaining amount would be utilised for contribution to the equity of Sethusamudram Corporation Limited and National Highways Authority of India.
Mr. Raghupathy said that Outer Harbour would be developed at an estimated cost of Rs. 4,000 crore.
"We have forwarded a proposal to the Centre seeking `in principle' approval for short listing of bidders for the Outer Harbour Development project," he added. Construction of North Cargo berth planned on captive basis for Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) is expected to be completed before December 31, 2008. "The entire cost of project to the tune of Rs. 40 crore would be borne by NLC," he said. "
Tuticorin District Football Association lifted the Vinothakumar Memorial Trophy defeating Reserve Bank of India, Chennai 5-4 via sudden death in the final of the 31st annual State-level football tournament held in Sivakasi on 8th April. At the regulation time, the teams were locked goalless.
In the tiebreaker, the teams scored four goals each. Bruston, Praveen, Naveen and Dinesh scored for Tuticorin while Kannan, Rajan, Madhuvarman, and Devanathan scored for Reserve Bank. In the sudden death, Muppidari succeeded for Tuticorin, while Dinakaran failed to convert for the bankmen.
The Tuticorin Port Trust celebrated the National Maritime Day with pomp and gaiety on Thursday, to commemorate the maiden voyage of S S Loyalty, India's first merchant vessel, from Mumbai to London on April 5, 1919.
In a function held at Berth 8, tugs and pilot launches of the port displayed their prowess.
The tugs that graced the `sail past' function included the recently procured M T Tuticorin, with a 45 tonne Bollard Pull capacity, from Tebma Shipyards.
The others were M T Pearl City (10 Tonne Bollard Pull capacity), M T Thiruvalluvar (32 Tonne Bollard Pull), M T Indira Gandhi (30 Tonnes Bollard Pull Capacity).
The pilot launches that attended the show were Veera Vanchi and M L Tuticorin.
Cultural programmes and games were organised to mark this occasion.
Amritavalli Raghupathy, wife of the Chairman of Tuticorin Port Trust, N. K. Raghupathy, gave away the prizes to the winners of cultural and literary competitions conducted as part of the National Maritime Day celebrations for school children.
Earlier, Ms. Raghupathy placed a wreath at the memorial of sailors who died in harness, in the City.
Source: The Hindu
The Public Sector, Metallurgical and Engineering Consultants (MECON), has bagged contracts for 2 x 500 Mega Watt (MW) Power Plant in Tuticorin,Tamil Nadu (TN), which is being promoted jointly by the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) and the State's Electricity Board.
MECON would provide detailed engineering and consultancy from concept to commissioning for two units of 500 MW each to be set up at Tuticorin.
Earlier, MECON had provided similar service to the NLC for their 2 x 210 MW expansion programme which was successfully completed in 2003.
With the rising business in power sector, MECON is preparing a road map to develop its strategic business unit further.
The power plant division at Ranchi is being augmented with more resources and latest design softwares to facilitate better and timely services to the valued customers.
Source: Daily India
Night landing facility at the airport here is set to become a reality, as the Airports Authority of India plans to install Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) and runway lights on an outlay of Rs 1.25 crore.
The installation of PAPI, at a cost of Rs. 25 lakh, is nearing completion and the gadget will become functional before April 15. AAI sources said that it would aid pilots for a safe and accurate final approach to the runway.
The system consists of four boxes of lights, kept on both sides of the runway.
Each box of lights will be equipped with an optical apparatus that splits the light output into red and white segments. Depending on the angle of approach, the lights in the gadget will appear either red or white to the pilot. K. Ramalingam, Regional Executive Director, AAI, said that runway lights would be installed at a cost of about Rs. One crore.
The establishment of night landing facility will enable commencement of late evening flights from here, to suit the convenience of a large section of passengers.
Union Minister of State for Railways R. Velu has said that the Railway Ministry would consider introducing more trains to Tuticorin once the double laning work between Madurai and Dindigul was completed towards the end of current fiscal.
On 6th April, he said that at present, the track on the sector (62 km) was utilised about 130 percent of its capacity between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day and hence new overnight train services could not be operated to Tuticorin.
Ruling out the possibility of shifting Tuticorin railway station to Milavittan, he said that projects worth Rs 2.06 crore are already in the pipeline to augment the facilities in the station.
Besides, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation would establish a budget hotel just outside the building.
"In all, we are planning 100 such budget hotels across the country in a phased manner,' he said.
Work on the road over bridge in progress at railway gate no. 3 would be completed before December 31.
Similar flyovers would be constructed at gates 1 and 2 on a cost-sharing basis with the State Government.
Gauge conversion between Tuticorin and Tirunelveli would be completed before September 30.
Similarly, conversion of tracks between Quilon and Punalur to broad gauge would be over this fiscal.
"We are planning to convert the entire meter gauge in the State to broad gauge over the next few years," he said. Earlier, Mr. Velu assessed the progress of construction of road over bridge at railway gate no. 3 and inspected the development works under way at the railway station.
The Divisional Railway Manager, Hemant Kumar, the Collector, R. Palaniyandi, the Divisional Railway Engineer, Robert Rajasekharan, and senior railway officials were present.
Source: The Hindu
Tuticorin Port has been registering a consistent growth rate in handling of cargo and containers over the years. During 2006-07 the Port has handled 3,77,102 TEUs against 3,21,060 TEUs of containers handled during the corresponding period of the previous year, registering a growth rate of 17.46%. This is the highest volume of handled containers in a year in the history of the Port.
Further, Tuticorin Port handled 40,018 TEUs of containers in March 2007. This is the highest number of containers handled in a single month. The previous record was 36,215 TEUs of containers handled in August 2006. On 31.03.2007, Tuticorin Port created another record in container handling by handling 2717 TEUs of containers in a single ship (m.v.Tiger Sky). This is the highest volume of containers handled in a single ship.
Handling of containers in Tuticorin Port commenced in the year 1999 and a volume of 121 TEUs was handled in the first year. At that time, there was no dedicated berth for container vessels and the containers were handled by the ship's cranes only. As a result, the stay of the container vessel at berth was longer and about 12 to 15 containers were handled per hour / per crane. It took nearly three days to complete a container vessel. However, from 1999 onwards, a dedicated berth for a container vessel is allotted and gantry cranes are used for loading / unloading of containers. Following this initiative taken by the Port, the productivity of the container vessels increased to a large extent and the present per hour handling of 25 to 27 containers per hour / per crane is comparable to the International stand. Three gantry cranes and eight yard gantry cranes are being used now. The vessel's stay at berth has been considerably reduced now and on an average, a container vessel is handled in 15 hrs. The pre-berthing detention of container vessel on Port account is NIL. Following the various initiatives taken by the Port, the volume of containers handled at Tuticorin Port has increased from 2,12,925 TEUs in 2002-03 to 3,77,102 TEUs in 2006-07. During the last five years the number of containers handled in the Port has increased by 1,35,823 TEUs, registering a growth rate of 77.11 %.
A recent study carried out by some students of the Wharton Business School, USA, under the aegis of the Planning Commission of India has ranked Tuticorin Port Trust's container handling facilities as the best in India comparable to International Container Port such as Hongkong and Singapore in overall efficiency taking into account parameters such as technical efficiency, storage, scale efficiency.
In order to increase the volume of containers handled through the Port, the Port has taken various initiatives. The Harbour basin including the container berth was dredged from 8.24m to 10.7m in 1999 at a cost of Rs.216.90 crores. This has facilitated calling of mainline container vessels at Tuticorin Port regularly. In order to promote calling of mainline vessels at Tuticorin Port, an incentive in vessel related charges of 65% was offered. This resulted in reduction in cost of handling and quick delivery of containers to different parts of the World. The users were immensely benefitted. The garment and textile exporters and the importers of machinery from Tirupur, Karur and Salem regions are using Tuticorin Port for their import and export as Tuticorin Port has direct connectivity to American and European Ports in addition to the Far East Ports.
The handling capacity of the existing container terminal has almost reached a saturation point. To meet the future requirement, Berth No.8 will be converted as the second container terminal at a cost of Rs.150 crores. This will increase the container handling capacity of the Port by 4 lakh TEUs. Further, in the Inner Harbour Development, to be taken up shortly, the existing draft of 10.7m will be increased to 12.8m at an estimated cost of Rs.442 crores. With the expected completion of Sethusamudram Project in 2008, the Ports on the East Coast and West Coast will increasingly use Tuticorin Port as a Transhipment Hub Port and Tuticorin Port is expected to emerge as a Hub Container Port in the near future.
Shri N.K.Raghupahty, IAS, Chairman, Tuticorin Port Trust congratulated the Container Terminal Operator, Port Users, Port Officers, Employees and Cargo Handling Labouers for achieving an all time high record in handling of containers and wished that with the concerted efforts of every one, Tuticorin Port would achieve more laurels in the coming years.
Source: Tuticorin Port
As a part of providing improvement to the road connectivity of Tuticorin Port a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 26.03.2007 among the National Highway Authority of India, Tuticorin Port Trust and Tuticorin Port Road Company Limited, New Delhi, the Special Purpose Vehicle of the project.
The agreement envisages four laning of existing two lines of Tirunelveli – Tuticorin road from 4/0 Km to Km 51/2 of National Highways 7A. The equity capital of Tuticorin Port for the Project is to the extend of 11 % of the total project cost of Rs.231.20 Crores or Rs.25 Crores whichever is less. A cheque for Rs.5 Crores was handed over by Chairman, Port Trust to the Chief General Manager of National Highways.
Source: Tuticorin Port
The results of the three-day census carried out by the Department of Forests in the Blackbuck Sanctuary at Vallanadu here from March 30 to April 1, showed an increase in Black Buck population.
L. Nadhan, District Forest Officer, said the survey found 25 blackbucks vis-à-vis 23 animals traced during the last Census held in 2006. Of the 25 blackbucks, three were male, 20 were female and the rest were adolescents.
The compilation of statistics in the survey showed that the sanctuary houses 11 jackals, 15 black naped hares, 27 peacocks, 7 jungle cats, 5 pangolins (ant eater), 16 monitor lizards, 2 pythons, 14 mongooses, 9 vultures and 7 crested hawk eagles, apart from the blackbucks.
The final figures were evolved by the census team, comprising 10 forest officials, two scientists and 24 volunteers, after carrying out the survey using line transect and water hole methods.
Mr. Nadhan said that plans were afoot to increase the area coverage under grassland in the sanctuary to provide more quantity of fodder to the blackbucks.
"Presently, grassland coverage stands at about 15 per cent of the total 1,600 acres," he said, adding that it would be increased to 30 per cent over the next five years.
Besides, fruit yielding `Ficus Infectoria' and `Ficus Tinctoria' tree saplings would be planted on the rocky surfaces inside the sanctuary to attract more birds.
"Arrival of different species of birds would change the microclimate in the sanctuary for good," he added.
The Anti-Nuclear Confederation of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (ANCTP) has urged the authorities concerned to stop work on the nuclear power plant at Koodankulam (Tirunelveli district).
The project is economically unviable and poses serious threat to safety, it has said.
An appeal was made after the confederation conducted a "people's public hearing" here on Friday to elicit views of residents of Tuticorin, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari.
Sandeep Pandey, a Magsasay Award winner in 2002 and alumnus of IIT Kanpur, said, "It is a pity that countries like that of ours are after nuclear power at a time when developed nations are giving up nuclear projects.
"Besides, a few nations have declared their land as `nuclear free zones,' as the projects were found dangerous and expensive. There are plenty of alternatives to produce energy at a cheaper cost," he said.
Mr. Pandey cited the example of Australia, which did not have a single reactor in its territory though the nation has a lot of uranium resources.
"The country was able to produce 5,000 MW of electricity per annum tapping wind in the last 10 years. However, we are still to cross 3000 MW capacity through atomic energy in the last five decades," he said.
India should be leading the demand for a nuclear-free South Asia. G. Anton Gomez, convener of ANCTP, said that radiations from the plant would affect five million people residing in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Gilbert Rodrigo, advisor, ANCTP, said that commemorating `Chernobyl Day,' the confederation would hold a rally at Nagercoil on April 26 to ask the Centre to stop the project at Koodankulam.
"Concerted efforts involving different stakeholders are the need of hour to enhance marine resources in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), extending to 200 nautical miles from Indian coastline," H. Mohammed Kasim, Principal Scientist, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, has said.
Dr. Kasim was inaugurating a two-day workshop on `Biodiversity and conservation strategies on the threatened and endangered species of the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere,' organised by Fisheries College and Research Institute here on Thursday.
He said that artificial reefs should be deployed in large numbers and sea ranching of various marine species should be carried out to increase the resources depleted through "over exploitation."
Fish potential along the EEZ was yet to be tapped fully as fishermen mostly restricted their activities to inshore waters.
"Though it was estimated that the region had a potential of 3.94 million tonnes per annum, we catch only 2.7 million tonnes of fish," he said.
Of the 2.7 million tonnes caught every year, 2.2 million was captured from the inshore waters.
Hence, fishermen should venture more into deep sea, which has valuable pelagic fish species such as tuna, marlins, oceanic squads and bill fishV.K. Venkataramani, Dean, FCRI, said that use of coracles should be regulated in and around coral reef islands in the Gulf of Mannar to prevent depletion of ornamental fish resources.
"Fishermen who happened to catch the juveniles of angels, damsels, scorpion and wrasse, all ornamental fish species, should return them into the sea to sustain their population," he said.
Dr. Kasim released a training manual for the participants at the workshop.
About 30 lecturers, officials from forest and Fisheries Department and students, from across the State, were taking part in the workshop.
The programme, which was sponsored by the Tamil Nadu State Land Use Board, concluded on 30th March.
Source: The Hindu
Assembled boilers manufactured in Tuticorin are getting ready to be exported through the port here.
On 1st April, two boilers each measuring a length of 16 metres, a height of 8 metres, and weighing 105 tonnes, manufactured by a private unit here were moved from its yard premises to the port.
They were shipped to the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) in the United Arab Emirates, on April 4.
"The boilers are will used in a desalination plant set up by the SEWA," said B. Pattabhiraman, managing director, G B Engineering Limited, which produced the boilers.
The boilers were transported from the yard to the port on a truck with 10 hydraulic axles and 80 tyres.
The police regulated the traffic along the route and the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board switched off overhead transmission systems, wherever it was needed, to ensure smooth transportation of boilers to the port.
Source: The Hindu
The Department of Forest said that works are under way to augment facilities at the Black Buck Sanctuary, near Tuticorin on an outlay of Rs seven lakh sanctioned by the Centre.
Under the project, fencing to a length of three km would be repaired at a cost of Rs 4.5 lakh and height of one of the three watchtowers would be increased by 14 metres at Rs 1.5 lakh.
The remaining amount would be utilised towards improving ponds inside the sanctuary.
The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the Railway authorities to provide a "slip coach" for Tuticorin passengers at Vanchi Maniyachi near here for the new Nagercoil-Coimbatore train proposed in the railway budget.
In a memorandum submitted to the General Manager of Southern Railway, the Secretary, D.R. Kodeeswaran, said that a coach from Tuticorin, when added to the main train, would provide consolation to the people, who were denied of services connecting their town with Coimbatore.
Inspector General of Police (South Zone) Sanjeev Kumar has said that security threats to a country or an organisation should not be viewed in isolation. It should be thwarted through concerted efforts of various stakeholders.
He was inaugurating a workshop on `Changing security threat perception' organised by Heavy Water Plant, Tuticorin, a unit under the Department of Atomic Energy, in Tuticorin on 28th March.
Mr. Kumar said that a better "integrated approach" should be evolved by intelligence agencies such as Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to tackle cross border terrorism.
The agencies should join hands to compile information on security threats they gathered from different sources, instead of trying to compete with one another.
"This would avoid duplication of information," he said.
Security agencies should be vigilant in southern districts of Tuticorin and Tirunelveli as a lot of vital installations such as Heavy Water Plant, Coast Guard station and Port are present in Tuticorin and Nuclear Power Plant is fast coming up at Koodankulam (Tirunelveli district).
Mr. Kumar said that security along Tuticorin and Ramanthapuram districts were tightened in the wake of recent developments in Sri Lanka.
"We have formed 21 special squads in Tuticorin district and 16 more in Ramanathapuram district to prevent smuggling of contraband to Sri Lanka and infiltration," he said.
Besides, plans are afoot to establish a total of five marine police stations in Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram and Kanyakumari districts.
"They will come up at Tharuvaikulam (Tuticorin), Koodankulam (Tirunelveli), Devipattinam and Mandapam (Ramanthapuram) and Coalchel (Kanyakumari)," he said.
The police are maintaining a tight vigil at the refugee camps in Tuticorin and Ramanathapuram districts.
The General Manager of HWP, Tuticorin, V.V.S. Rama Rao, said that security has become complex in the wake of technological revolution.
"Though high security measures at vital installations might cause some displeasure among certain sections of people, it is essential for the economic growth of the country."
Source: The Hindu
