Six-month deadline for Marina beach to be turned world-class

The Madras High Court has directed civic and police officials to do all that it takes to make Marina beach world-class in six months.  The court also directed the commissioner of GCC and Chennai police to work together and develop the beach into a world-class, clean beach.

The Court said that the fish vendors can be forcefully evicted if they do not move to the new fish market and asked Chennai Corporation to furnish the construction plan for the proposed fish market.

Meanwhile, the Green Tribunal has sought a report from the committee of representatives from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Chennai Corporation and the Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board on the recent news report of foaming on Marina beach.

Source: The Times of India | The Hindu

Pallikaranai marsh to be opened for public viewing

Pallikaranai marsh, including the Perumbakkam wetlands, will be open for public viewing from early next year, as part of the rejuvenation of the wetland. A walk path for 1 km has been constructed from Madipakkam signal till the National Institute of Wind Energy, at the Velachery-Tambaram Main Road.

The department has also planted 6000 saplings across the bund of marshland, which include indigenous species like Aal, Arasu, Aththi, Naval, Neermaruthu. Magizham among others, according to a forest department official.

There were about 1000 encroachers and about 40 have been relocated to flats constructed by the TN Slum Clearance Board. The remaining are in the process of relocating and officials noted that relocating them was a great challenge.

Source: The Hindu

Elephant Gate bridge to be demolished on January 3

The Southern Railway has set January 3rd as the date to begin the demolition of the dilapidated Elephant Gate bridge and has requested the Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation (Tantransco) to complete the shifting of power lines before the end of this year.  The bridge has remained shut for more than a year now.

The Railways wants to demolish the existing structure and construct a new and wider bridge to accommodate increased tracks, as the department plans to increase long-distance services from the Chennai Central station.

The Chennai city traffic police had installed barricades last month and put up banners to prevent pedestrians and motorists from using the dilapidated bridge to avoid accidents.

Source: The Hindu

City to have covered garbage bins from March 2020

The Chennai Corporation is all set to replace the current outdated garbage bins with modern ones with lids by March next year, for which the process of issuing tenders is in the final stage. “We are planning to fix the bins on a concrete surface, to make them immovable. Lids will prevent stray animals from feeding on the garbage,” said a corporation official.

The city currently has over 2000 bins, most of which are in bad condition.

To transport waste from the bins to the RRC, there are currently 411 odd battery-operated vehicles which are unevenly distributed across the city. Corporation officials, however, have said 1600 more vehicles will be purchased by mid-2020 to ease the garbage collection process.

Source: The New Indian Express

Aavin clarifies that its milk is safe for consumption

The state milk brand Aavin has clarified that the aflatoxin M1 content found in milk was well within the specified limits and is safe for consumption. Aavin had picked samples of all varieties of milk from its 25 dairies and sent the samples to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)-accredited laboratories.

The tests showed that the level of aflatoxin M1 in Aavin’s milk was less than 0.5 mg.

In a recent nationwide study, the FSSAI had found aflatoxin M1 content in processed milk samples collected in the state. Meanwhile, Aavin is also getting 17 milkoscanners that will test the milk from their 354 bulk coolers for aflatoxin M1, fat content and a host of other criteria.

Source: The Hindu

Chennai Police gets SKOCH Award for Swachh police stations

The Greater Chennai Police received the Union government’s SKOCH Award under ‘Swachh Police Station category for maintaining cleanliness in all their police stations.

The Chennai Police has been making consistent efforts in returning or auctioning off all abandoned and unclaimed vehicles from its stations. About 10,000 vehicles including those seized for violations and unclaimed vehicles confiscated from public places such as parking lots, under bridges and flyovers were enumerated last year, of which 2,125 vehicles were handed over to owners. The remaining, which had no claimants, were sent for auction through the Chennai Corporation.

Source: The Hindu

[Compiled by Sandhya Raju]