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Minister distributes land, assets to tribals

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Source : The Hindu Date : 20.06.2009

Minister distributes land, assets to tribals

Staff Reporter

NELLORE: Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister Anam Ramnarayana Reddy distributed 107.9 acres of forest land and issued assets worth about Rs. 15.8 lakh to tribals in the district on Friday.

The Minister gave pattas to 32 tribals living in Kotadivi village in Kavali mandal for 96.85 acres of forest lands and house sites to 88 tribals in Konamgunta and Subramanyam villages in Balaipalli mandal in the district.

Mr. Reddy also distributed sewing machines to 150 tribal women, rickshaws, nets and bicycles, worth about Rs. 15.8 lakh supplied by ITDA.

Earlier, Mr. Ramnarayana Reddy participated in ‘Badi Baata’ programme in Kranthi Nagar Municipal School in the city.

Last Updated on Saturday, 20 June 2009 07:31
 

Need for clarity on Unified Metro Transport Authority

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Source : The Hindu Date : 20.06.2009

Need for clarity on Unified Metro Transport Authority

Highlighting the importance of setting up Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA), Dr. M. Ramachandran, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development said it should, however, be tailored to suit our needs.

Some of the state governments have already set up UMTAs either on the basis of administrative decision as in Bangalore, Mumbai, and Chennai or through a legislative process as in Hyderabad, he said at a three-day workshop on UMTA in Bangalore.

The actual implementation of UMTAs and their efficacy would, however, need some more clarity, he said. “While there is a need for such a body, it is also important that we design this institution to best suit our needs,” he said.

Under the JNNURM package, 15,000 buses will be released in 60 cities in the next three months. Similar reform condition is now being made mandatory for all metro projects as well, he said.-PTI

Last Updated on Saturday, 20 June 2009 07:21
 

2 sanitation workers killed in freak mishap

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Source : The Hindu Date : 20.06.2009

2 sanitation workers killed in freak mishap

Staff Reporter

The victims belong to Bathuva village in Srikakulam district

— PHOTO: CH.VIJAYA BHASKAR

Tragic end: Fire and emergency services personnel fishing out the body of a worker drowned in an underground drainage line in Vijayawada on Friday.

VIJAYAWADA: In a freak mishap, two scavengers working on contract basis in the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) were drowned and killed in an underground drainage line on Friday.

The victims were identified as Pothireddi Appala Naidu, 25, and Jammi Kannayya, 25. Both of them were from Bathuva village of Srikakulam district and presently residing at Ajit Singh Nagar. The incident occurred on the road stretch between Chennupati petrol bunk and Jammichettu centre around 11 a.m., when the two scavengers got down through a manhole to de-silt the underground drainage line.

Appala Naidu was the first to go in with the help of a rope and fell unconscious. When he apparently left the rope and began getting washed away in the stream, Kannayya went to his rescue and he too fell unconscious, only to be drowned in the 22-ft.-deep drain.

A few scavengers working in the vicinity raised an alarm and the local people alerted the police. Two fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the fire personnel began the rescue operation. Wearing oxygen masks, they got down into the drain and around noon fished out the body of Appala Naidu.

However, it took about two more hours for them to fish out the body of Kannayya.

District Fire Officer S. Venkateswara Rao attributed the deaths to emanation of methanol gas from the drain. “The gas reserves are high at this point. Even after wearing oxygen masks, our personnel waited for a few minutes to get into the already uncapped drainage, as they waited for the evaporation of the gas,” he explained.

Mayor M.V. Ratna Bindu and Municipal Commissioner P.S. Pradyumna found fault with the contractor for not informing the sanitation wing of the VMC before commencing the works.

“The contractor is at fault. An enquiry will be conducted and the guilty will be punished. We will force the contractor, who engaged these scavengers, to pay the ex gratia to the family members of the victims,” they said.

City secretaries of the CPI and the CPI (M), K. Subba Raju and R. Raghu, respectively, Praja Rajyam Party MLAs Velampalli Srinivas (Vijayawada West) and Yalamanchili Ravi (Vijayawada East), who reached the spot, expressed regret over the incident and demanded that the VMC use modern technology to de-silt the drains

“It is unfair on the part of the civic body to engage men in such dangerous jobs, even though technology is available to undertake the job with the help of machines,” they said.

Last Updated on Saturday, 20 June 2009 07:18
 


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