Public hearing on Sathyamangalam bypass postponed
COIMBATORE: A public hearing on the Sathyamangalam greenfield bypass project (NH 948), which was scheduled for Friday (May 16), has been postponed to May 26 due to 'unavoidable reasons,' according to revenue officials. The hearing was for residents of four revenue villages - Kondaiampalayam, Kuppepalayam, Kattampatti, and Kariyampalayam - who have raised objections to land acquisition.
Despite postponement, other public hearings related to the project will continue as planned on May 19 and 23. The postponement comes amid mounting opposition to the proposed 92-km four-lane bypass.
Farmers and residents from nearly 15 villages in the vicinity of Annur, have launched a postcard campaign to voice their protest. Around 2,000 postcards addressed to Chief Minister MK Stalin are being sent, appealing for the project to be dropped and for the existing Coimbatore-Sathyamangalam road to be widened instead. So far, around 100 postcards have already reached the CM.
The State Highways Department (NH wing), which took over the project from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), has issued a 3A notification to acquire nearly 800 acres across Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 630 crore.
In total, 409 individuals from 14 revenue villages in Coimbatore and two in Tiruppur have submitted objections to the District Land Acquisition Office. The federation has also sought police permission to meet the Chief Minister in person when he travels from the Nilgiris to Coimbatore on Friday, in an attempt to submit their petition directly.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
27 minutes ago
- Time of India
West Bengal govt to allow residential consumers to opt out from power smart meters: Official
KOLKATA : Amid protests over alleged inflated electricity bills following the installation of prepaid smart meters, the West Bengal government has decided to allow residential power consumers to opt out from the system and revert to traditional devices, an official said on Tuesday. The government had on Monday temporarily suspended fresh installations of smart meters for domestic consumers, he said. "The installation of smart meters for residential consumers has been temporarily suspended, but there is no plan for a mass recall. Consumers can choose to switch back to conventional meters," the official said. The prepaid smart meter installation will continue for commercial and government establishments, the official said. The decision comes after the BJP and the Left Front have been accusing the Trinamool Congress government of "burdening households with sudden tariff hikes and opaque smart meter installation". There had been protests in districts such as Howrah, North 24 Parganas, and Bardhaman, where people alleged their bills doubled or tripled after smart meter installations. The Mamata Banerjee government had earlier approved large-scale smart meter deployment to help the cash-strapped utility, West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd, recover dues. The state government departments alone owed over Rs 1,500 crore to the discom, which has a total debt of Rs 15,400 crore in the 2023-24 fiscal, the official said. In May, Polaris Smart Metering secured a Rs 2,246-crore contract to install 2.2 million smart meters in West Bengal under the Centre's Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS).
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Cabinet nod for Indian Railways' line doubling projects: Freight traffic set to receive additional boost of 49 million tonnes annually
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved two line doubling projects of the Indian Railways, namely, the 133-km Koderma-Barkakana Doubling and the 185-km Ballari-Chikjajur Doubling, which cover a total of seven districts in Jharkhand, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The total estimated cost of the projects is Rs 6,405 crore. The Koderma-Barkakana line passes through a major coal producing area of Jharkhand. Along with this, it serves as the shortest rail link between Patna and Ranchi. The cost of doubling of the line is Rs 2,063 crore. According to the Ministry of Railways, line doubling will facilitate an additional cargo of 30.4 million tonnes (mt). It will connect four districts of Jharkhand, namely, Koderma, Chatra, Hazaribagh and Ramgarh. The project will be challenging from an engineering point of view since it will involve the construction of 17 major bridges, 180 minor bridges, 42 road over bridges (ROBs) and 13 road under bridges (RUBs). The project will provide connectivity to over 900 villages, the Indian Railways said. The second project Ballari-Chikjajur line crosses Ballari and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka and Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. The total cost of the project is Rs 3,342 crore. According to the Indian Railways, the doubling of the rail line will facilitate the movement of additional cargo of 18.9 mt. It will cater to transport of iron ore, coking coal, finished steel, fertilisers, foodgrains, and petroleum products, among other items. The 185-km project will involve the construction of 19 stations, 29 major bridges, 230 minor bridges, 21 ROBs and 85 RUBs. The line will connect over 400 villages on the stretch. These two projects together will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 318 km and additional freight traffic of 49 mt per annum. Dheeraj Mishra is a Principal correspondent with The Indian Express, Business Bureau. He covers India's two key ministries- Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. He frequently uses the Right to Information (RTI) Act for his stories, which have resulted in many impactful reports. ... Read More
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Power engineers challenge privatisation push
Lucknow: The Vidyut Karamchari Samyukta Sangharsh Samiti has intensified its 196-day protest against privatisation, challenging power minister Arvind Kumar Sharma's push for private sector involvement. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The Samiti has even invited the minister to a power mahapanchayat on June 22 in Lucknow, urging him to explain the benefits of privatisation to farmers, consumers, and workers. They dismissed the minister's claims of better private sector technology and management, pointing out that line losses have already dropped from 40% to 16.5% under the RDSS scheme, with Rs 44,000 crore invested in infrastructure. "Why privatise when we are close to the 15% target?" asked Shailendra Dubey, the Samiti's convenor, alleging a Rs 1.1 lakh crore loss due to poor management.
