Dear all,
All EVP Township customers are requested to present in EVP Town Tharapakkam on Jan-26th-2009 around 9.00 A.M.
Need to make our presence in the Tharapakkam gramma panchayat Meeting and sign in the document to show our protest against land acqusition.
Make your presence...............
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Army delays handing over land for expansion
Army delays handing over land for expansion
CHENNAI: The army authorities are delaying the handing over of 20 acres for the expansion of the international departure terminal adjacent to the international departure area of the Chennai airport, according to officials of the Airports Authority of India.
A transmission station of the army is functioning at the place now. Sources in the Airports Authority of India said officials had been in touch with the army for the past 10 years for the transfer of the land.
While taking up the matter with Defence Minister A.K. Antony, the State government explained that the land was crucial for the expansion and for building a flyover, air-conditioning plant and power station.
Following this, the Union Cabinet in July last decided to hand over the land to the AAI on condition that the State government provide an equal value of land to the army; and the AAI bear the entire expense of relocating the army transmitter station, including the tower, to an adjacent land at Pallavaram.
The AAI and the State government agreed to these conditions.
A senior official of the State government said the government had identified 72 acres of its land on East Coast Road near Mahabalipuram. Following the meetings with the Defence Minister, the Ministry issued orders for handing over the land to the AAI, said another AAI official.
several rounds of meeting among the army, the AAI and the State government, the land was yet to the handed over to the AAI.In fact, the AAI had prepared a plan for an alternative site for relocating the transmitter station and submitted it to the army.
While the expansion was in full swing at the domestic terminal, nothing was happening in the international terminal owing to the delay in handing over the land, AAI authorities said.
Officials of the Defence Ministry said the AAI was required to make alternative arrangements for shifting the defence establishment. Then only would the land be handed over to it.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/13/stories/2009011354870500.htm
CHENNAI: The army authorities are delaying the handing over of 20 acres for the expansion of the international departure terminal adjacent to the international departure area of the Chennai airport, according to officials of the Airports Authority of India.
A transmission station of the army is functioning at the place now. Sources in the Airports Authority of India said officials had been in touch with the army for the past 10 years for the transfer of the land.
While taking up the matter with Defence Minister A.K. Antony, the State government explained that the land was crucial for the expansion and for building a flyover, air-conditioning plant and power station.
Following this, the Union Cabinet in July last decided to hand over the land to the AAI on condition that the State government provide an equal value of land to the army; and the AAI bear the entire expense of relocating the army transmitter station, including the tower, to an adjacent land at Pallavaram.
The AAI and the State government agreed to these conditions.
A senior official of the State government said the government had identified 72 acres of its land on East Coast Road near Mahabalipuram. Following the meetings with the Defence Minister, the Ministry issued orders for handing over the land to the AAI, said another AAI official.
several rounds of meeting among the army, the AAI and the State government, the land was yet to the handed over to the AAI.In fact, the AAI had prepared a plan for an alternative site for relocating the transmitter station and submitted it to the army.
While the expansion was in full swing at the domestic terminal, nothing was happening in the international terminal owing to the delay in handing over the land, AAI authorities said.
Officials of the Defence Ministry said the AAI was required to make alternative arrangements for shifting the defence establishment. Then only would the land be handed over to it.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/13/stories/2009011354870500.htm
Pollution assessment norms for builders to be changed
Pollution assessment norms for builders to be changed
New Delhi: The government will soon make key changes in the way companies report the environmental impact of their construction projects.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Friday that a draft notification on amendments to the Environmental Impact Asssessment Act, 2006, would be put up soon to invite public comments.
Key modifications proposed include making it mandatory for companies to publicize their environmental clearance, exempting projects that employ non-polluting technologies from environmental impact asssessments (EIA), and fast tracking modernization projects in states that have yet to constitute EIA boards.
If modifications take effect, they will significantly impact the way EIAs are conducted and cleared. ‘Mint’ has previously reported instances of companies presenting shoddy reports, often with glaring instances of plagiarism, as environmental clearances.
Government officials say a growing pile of projects needing clearance, as well as understaffed approval committees, are the main reasons that impede thorough and accurate assessments of reports submitted by companies. ‘Mint’ had also reported last year on the likelihood of amendments to the EIA. “As of now, there are 700 industrial projects waiting to be put on the agenda of the clearance committee. It is a welcome move because infrastructure projects need to be put on the fast track,” said K.P. Nyati, head, environment policy division at industry lobby group Confederation of Indian Industry. “...if the project has already been inspected once, then there is no need to re-scrutinize it.”
Environmentalists say compulsory disclosure of EIA is welcome, but are worried about easing laws for project modernization and expansion.
“This is a critical issue,” said Leo Saldanha, coordinator, Environment Support Group, an activist group.
“The Chennai airport is being modernized and expanded, and there is a lot of protest. The expansion will dislocate a lot of people as well as affect a neighbouring river, which would involve a clearance.”
http://www.livemint.com/2009/01/16233453/Pollution-assessment-norms-for.html
New Delhi: The government will soon make key changes in the way companies report the environmental impact of their construction projects.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Friday that a draft notification on amendments to the Environmental Impact Asssessment Act, 2006, would be put up soon to invite public comments.
Key modifications proposed include making it mandatory for companies to publicize their environmental clearance, exempting projects that employ non-polluting technologies from environmental impact asssessments (EIA), and fast tracking modernization projects in states that have yet to constitute EIA boards.
If modifications take effect, they will significantly impact the way EIAs are conducted and cleared. ‘Mint’ has previously reported instances of companies presenting shoddy reports, often with glaring instances of plagiarism, as environmental clearances.
Government officials say a growing pile of projects needing clearance, as well as understaffed approval committees, are the main reasons that impede thorough and accurate assessments of reports submitted by companies. ‘Mint’ had also reported last year on the likelihood of amendments to the EIA. “As of now, there are 700 industrial projects waiting to be put on the agenda of the clearance committee. It is a welcome move because infrastructure projects need to be put on the fast track,” said K.P. Nyati, head, environment policy division at industry lobby group Confederation of Indian Industry. “...if the project has already been inspected once, then there is no need to re-scrutinize it.”
Environmentalists say compulsory disclosure of EIA is welcome, but are worried about easing laws for project modernization and expansion.
“This is a critical issue,” said Leo Saldanha, coordinator, Environment Support Group, an activist group.
“The Chennai airport is being modernized and expanded, and there is a lot of protest. The expansion will dislocate a lot of people as well as affect a neighbouring river, which would involve a clearance.”
http://www.livemint.com/2009/01/16233453/Pollution-assessment-norms-for.html
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Rope in residents for development: Medha
Rope in residents for development: Medha
We have been residing at Choolaimedu for the past twenty years. We are clueless why the government, which provided us voter cards, ‘ has failed to provide proper sanitation facility. — Poonguldzhi, Choolaimedu ‘ Though the government had promised to allot houses two years ago, we are still waiting.
We are ready to construct hous- es on our own, but the govern- ‘ ment had instructed us not to build any houses. — Sathya, Sudhadhira NagarDemanding amend ments in the Jawaharlal Nehru national urban renewal mission (JNNURM), social activist Medha Patkar announced that she would produce an alternate draft shortly.
Speaking at the conference organised by the ‘Unorganised Workers Federation’ in the city on Friday, she said, “Every city development plan should be drafted after consulting the people. Due to implementation of coastal projects, fishermen are forced to leave their livelihood and move to far off places unfit for their work.” While companies are allowed to select suitable lands in the city, slum dwellers who settle down on the river banks are termed encroachers. Whenever the poor ask for houses closer to their source of livelihood, their demands are brushed aside, she said.
Ms Patkar said the government perhaps did not want the city to have poor and working class people. She wondered why the government was forcing the poor to migrate to sub urbs and providing land to the corporates. Under the guise of development the government is segregating the people and paving the way for a new kind of communalism, she said. Rather providing tax concessions and other benefits to IT companies and chemical hubs, the government should give concessions to the working class people who really needed them, she said.
Taking part in the protest against the Chennai airport expansion project held at Ramapuram, she said, “The acquisition of 137 acres for the airport expansion in the first phase is sufficient for the parallel runway project. The project will affect more than 10,000 families residing in four villages. If the government is really in need of the land, it should provide rehabilitation without compromising the livelihood of the people.”
Medha makes a difference
reporter’s diary - Medha makes a difference
BY K. KARTIKEYAN
CHENNAI
Clad in a wrinkled cotton saree, Medha Patkar found a huge following in the north with her down-toearth demeanour when she founded the Narmada Bachao Andolan. She still managed to charm people in the Dravidian heartland of Chennai where she became the torchbearer for what her critics called as ''anti-development demonstration'' against the Chennai airport expansion project.
The residents, whose homes are threatened by the project, rejoiced over her participation and the visibility it has given to their agita tion against their land being acquired for the airport expansion. But Friday's events are also a stark reminder of the fact that the movements mushrooming here under various banners lack a leader of her stature.
Unmindful of the opponents she has been pitted against so far, the 54-yearold Medha Patkar gradually and successfully evolved into a staunch symbol and opponent of state-sponsored land acquisition by corporate giants who under the pretext of development were depriving people of their rights. Starting from the 20-day marathon hungerstrike that she observed in protest against the Sardar Sarovar Dam across the Narmada river in Gujarat and her later intervention in Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal, Ms Patkar has displayed consummate ease in opposing the forced resettlement of the marginalized section, particularly tribes, from their traditional habitats.
Though the stakeholders in Friday’s agitation in Chennai did not appear to be poor, the very idea of displacement or rather resettlement was convincing enough for Ms Patkar to travel down south and be a part of their agitation. It is this mantra - protection of the right to livelihood and proper resettlement - which has attracted people to her cause cutting across economic barriers. This is where other social and rights activists have failed.
There are several activists campaigning against resettlement and land acquisition. But they all lack her perseverance. They are mostly involved in snap hungerstrikes or demonstrations, which the official machinery often ignores. Also these other activists are either pro-rich or pro-poor.
Apparently, they have failed to grasp that resettlement rights are determined not on just economic grounds, a principle which Medha Patkar proved during Friday’s demonstrations.
http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2009/01/03/ArticleHtmls/03_01_2009_004_006.shtml?Mode=0
BY K. KARTIKEYAN
CHENNAI
Clad in a wrinkled cotton saree, Medha Patkar found a huge following in the north with her down-toearth demeanour when she founded the Narmada Bachao Andolan. She still managed to charm people in the Dravidian heartland of Chennai where she became the torchbearer for what her critics called as ''anti-development demonstration'' against the Chennai airport expansion project.
The residents, whose homes are threatened by the project, rejoiced over her participation and the visibility it has given to their agita tion against their land being acquired for the airport expansion. But Friday's events are also a stark reminder of the fact that the movements mushrooming here under various banners lack a leader of her stature.
Unmindful of the opponents she has been pitted against so far, the 54-yearold Medha Patkar gradually and successfully evolved into a staunch symbol and opponent of state-sponsored land acquisition by corporate giants who under the pretext of development were depriving people of their rights. Starting from the 20-day marathon hungerstrike that she observed in protest against the Sardar Sarovar Dam across the Narmada river in Gujarat and her later intervention in Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal, Ms Patkar has displayed consummate ease in opposing the forced resettlement of the marginalized section, particularly tribes, from their traditional habitats.
Though the stakeholders in Friday’s agitation in Chennai did not appear to be poor, the very idea of displacement or rather resettlement was convincing enough for Ms Patkar to travel down south and be a part of their agitation. It is this mantra - protection of the right to livelihood and proper resettlement - which has attracted people to her cause cutting across economic barriers. This is where other social and rights activists have failed.
There are several activists campaigning against resettlement and land acquisition. But they all lack her perseverance. They are mostly involved in snap hungerstrikes or demonstrations, which the official machinery often ignores. Also these other activists are either pro-rich or pro-poor.
Apparently, they have failed to grasp that resettlement rights are determined not on just economic grounds, a principle which Medha Patkar proved during Friday’s demonstrations.
http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2009/01/03/ArticleHtmls/03_01_2009_004_006.shtml?Mode=0
Medha to protest city airport expansion plan
Medha to protest city airport expansion plan
CHENNAI
As the central and state governments have turned a deaf ear to their appeals, residents of Manapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Kovur, Kolapakkam and Tharapakkam have garnered the support of social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) founder Medha Patkar in their battle against the proposed Chennai airport expansion project for another runway.
Ms Medha Patkar will join thousands of people from these areas who have come under the banner of United People’s Forum for Survival (UPFS) for a demonstration at the Manapakkam-Ramapuram junction on Friday.
“We are hopeful that Medha’s presence will help us meet and explain the prob lem to Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi, who has not been accessible for us for a year now,” said Somasekaran, vice-president of UPFS.
Even the Airports Authority of India had expressed disapproval over the plan for the proposed secondary runway, which had not been approved even in principle by the Prime Minister’s Infrastructure Committee, he added.
AAI was content with the expansion of the existing cross runway and future implementation of the greenfield international airport and not the secondary runway, the resi dents claimed. Questioning the need for a secondary runway,
Somasekaran referred to Air Safety Expert retired Captain A Ranganathan's argument that the switch over to satellite based RNP (Required Navigation Performance) was a viable solution instead of the expansion to be carried out at a very high cost and which would lead to these residents losing their homes.
Technological expansion would be sufficient to accommodate 30 million passengers in the future up from the existing 23 million, he argued. The compensation package worth Rs 3,000 crore and the land cost of Rs 1,500 crore could be saved for the Civil Aviation Ministry if the economically and technically unviable secondary runway project was shelved, UPFS secretary Brinda asserted.
http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2009/01/02/ArticleHtmls/02_01_2009_004_011.shtml?Mode=0
CHENNAI
As the central and state governments have turned a deaf ear to their appeals, residents of Manapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Kovur, Kolapakkam and Tharapakkam have garnered the support of social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) founder Medha Patkar in their battle against the proposed Chennai airport expansion project for another runway.
Ms Medha Patkar will join thousands of people from these areas who have come under the banner of United People’s Forum for Survival (UPFS) for a demonstration at the Manapakkam-Ramapuram junction on Friday.
“We are hopeful that Medha’s presence will help us meet and explain the prob lem to Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi, who has not been accessible for us for a year now,” said Somasekaran, vice-president of UPFS.
Even the Airports Authority of India had expressed disapproval over the plan for the proposed secondary runway, which had not been approved even in principle by the Prime Minister’s Infrastructure Committee, he added.
AAI was content with the expansion of the existing cross runway and future implementation of the greenfield international airport and not the secondary runway, the resi dents claimed. Questioning the need for a secondary runway,
Somasekaran referred to Air Safety Expert retired Captain A Ranganathan's argument that the switch over to satellite based RNP (Required Navigation Performance) was a viable solution instead of the expansion to be carried out at a very high cost and which would lead to these residents losing their homes.
Technological expansion would be sufficient to accommodate 30 million passengers in the future up from the existing 23 million, he argued. The compensation package worth Rs 3,000 crore and the land cost of Rs 1,500 crore could be saved for the Civil Aviation Ministry if the economically and technically unviable secondary runway project was shelved, UPFS secretary Brinda asserted.
http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2009/01/02/ArticleHtmls/02_01_2009_004_011.shtml?Mode=0
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Patkar joins agitation against Chennai airport expansion
Patkar joins agitation against Chennai airport expansion
Chennai (PTI): Noted social activist Medha Patkar on Friday joined agitation against the proposed expansion of Chennai airport, asserting that the project had displaced hundreds of people and caused environmental hazards.
Taking part in a demonstration here, she said that the government had 'failed' to assess the environmental impact of the project as it caused flooding from the nearby Adyar river during peak monsoon.
"The expansion is an encroachment on people's land without their consent. It is against the very rules of rehabilitation that are against displacement of anyone in development, emphasised in the National Rehabilitation Policy," she said.
Patkar, who has participated in similar demonstrations in Chennai earlier, demanded that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi should ask the Airports Authority of India to reconsider the project.
Later, speaking to reporters, Patkar appealed to the state and Centre governments not to displace the poor while implementing urban development plans. She also said that government should consult the poor while formulating urban development programmes. "Currently, no government is doing that," she claimed.
Patkar alleged that a political-corporate nexus was trying to pocket all available land for real estate purposes. "Corporates are urging the government to undertake real estate development for their private agenda," she said.
The project site has already been shifted by the government due to opposition from the locals as well as political parties, including the PMK.
The project was shifted to the present area, comprising 1099 acres on Tharapakkam, Gerugambakkam,Manapakkam and Kolapakkam.
http://www.hindu.com/holnus/004200901030331.htm
Chennai (PTI): Noted social activist Medha Patkar on Friday joined agitation against the proposed expansion of Chennai airport, asserting that the project had displaced hundreds of people and caused environmental hazards.
Taking part in a demonstration here, she said that the government had 'failed' to assess the environmental impact of the project as it caused flooding from the nearby Adyar river during peak monsoon.
"The expansion is an encroachment on people's land without their consent. It is against the very rules of rehabilitation that are against displacement of anyone in development, emphasised in the National Rehabilitation Policy," she said.
Patkar, who has participated in similar demonstrations in Chennai earlier, demanded that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi should ask the Airports Authority of India to reconsider the project.
Later, speaking to reporters, Patkar appealed to the state and Centre governments not to displace the poor while implementing urban development plans. She also said that government should consult the poor while formulating urban development programmes. "Currently, no government is doing that," she claimed.
Patkar alleged that a political-corporate nexus was trying to pocket all available land for real estate purposes. "Corporates are urging the government to undertake real estate development for their private agenda," she said.
The project site has already been shifted by the government due to opposition from the locals as well as political parties, including the PMK.
The project was shifted to the present area, comprising 1099 acres on Tharapakkam, Gerugambakkam,Manapakkam and Kolapakkam.
http://www.hindu.com/holnus/004200901030331.htm
Medha Patkar asks govt to drop land acquisition plan
Medha Patkar asks govt to drop land acquisition plan
CHENNAI: Madha Patkar's arrival in the city provided a boost to residents of Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Tharapakkam and Kovur who have been opposing government acqusition of land for the proposed Chennai airport expansion.
Patkar has pledged support to hundreds whose lands have been identified for acquisition. After taking part in a protest meet organised by residents at the Manapakkam-Ramapuram junction on Mount Poonamallee Road near MIOT Hospital on Friday, Patkar met Tamil Nadu chief secretary K S Sripathy and urged the government to drop the proposal to acquire land and also to discuss the issue with affected residents.
Earlier, Patkar told media persons that the government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) should take into account views of residents and that "no plan should be imposed undemocratically on the people." She said that all information pertaining to a project should be put up before the people as there was lack of transparency during the initial stages of infrastructure projects.
She criticised the government move to acquire land even though it could lead to displacement of about 1,000 families, and said that it reflected "ad hoc planning." Patkar pointed out that the National Rehabilitation Policy disapproved of displacement without rehabilitation. "Thousands of people were evicted with the approval of government for projects done on an ad hoc mode across the country," she said.
Promoting projects assuming that traffic would multiply in the future was improper, according to Patkar. She said that the economic slowdown was slowly impacting the country and that only small airports were needed, not grand structures. She referred to the "politician-corporate nexus working in planning grand infrastructure projects."
Residents who took part in the protest reiterated that they were not ready to give up their land because they did not want to be relocated to another place. "All of us have purchased houses by taking loans.
We continue to pay monthly instalments because the state government has not issued the final notice confirming that the identified locations will be taken up for proposed airport expansion work," said a resident.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Medha_Patkar_asks_govt_to_drop_land_acquisition_plan/articleshow/3928534.cms
CHENNAI: Madha Patkar's arrival in the city provided a boost to residents of Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Tharapakkam and Kovur who have been opposing government acqusition of land for the proposed Chennai airport expansion.
Patkar has pledged support to hundreds whose lands have been identified for acquisition. After taking part in a protest meet organised by residents at the Manapakkam-Ramapuram junction on Mount Poonamallee Road near MIOT Hospital on Friday, Patkar met Tamil Nadu chief secretary K S Sripathy and urged the government to drop the proposal to acquire land and also to discuss the issue with affected residents.
Earlier, Patkar told media persons that the government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) should take into account views of residents and that "no plan should be imposed undemocratically on the people." She said that all information pertaining to a project should be put up before the people as there was lack of transparency during the initial stages of infrastructure projects.
She criticised the government move to acquire land even though it could lead to displacement of about 1,000 families, and said that it reflected "ad hoc planning." Patkar pointed out that the National Rehabilitation Policy disapproved of displacement without rehabilitation. "Thousands of people were evicted with the approval of government for projects done on an ad hoc mode across the country," she said.
Promoting projects assuming that traffic would multiply in the future was improper, according to Patkar. She said that the economic slowdown was slowly impacting the country and that only small airports were needed, not grand structures. She referred to the "politician-corporate nexus working in planning grand infrastructure projects."
Residents who took part in the protest reiterated that they were not ready to give up their land because they did not want to be relocated to another place. "All of us have purchased houses by taking loans.
We continue to pay monthly instalments because the state government has not issued the final notice confirming that the identified locations will be taken up for proposed airport expansion work," said a resident.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Medha_Patkar_asks_govt_to_drop_land_acquisition_plan/articleshow/3928534.cms
Medha Patkar flays airport expansion
Medha Patkar flays airport expansion
CHENNAI: Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar on Friday described the airport expansion plan here as “encroachment on people’s land.” Patkar was in the city to participate in a demonstration held by the United People’s Forum for Survival (UPFFS) against the project.
“The airport expansion is encroachment on people’s land without their consent.
“The airport expansion is encroachment on people’s land without their consent.
It is against the very rules of rehabilitation that are against displacement of anyone in development. The National Rehabilitation Policy emphasis this fact,” she said.
Even though the houses and plots were taken over by the government under the rules, it nevertheless showed ad hoc planning because it failed to take care of the displaced people.
“I know Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel only too well to understand that all this ambitious planning is aimed at corporatisation of the sector,” Patkar said. The government failed to assess the environmental hazards that were bound to crop up because of the parallel runway.
“It is the political-corporate nexus at work, which is not in the best interests of the people.” Patkar urged Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to hold a dialogue with the Airports Authority of India on the issue. It was big corporate houses that would benefit from such projects with bigger profits in their account, she said.
“Today, it is the building of a parallel runway and tomorrow they will want malls right next to that for further development.
Where does that leave the common man?” Recalling the Nagar Raj Bill, Patkar said displacement was being equated with development and the people’s basic needs were being ignored.
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