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The Hindu
28-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Stalin to inaugurate free houses for Irular families near Arakkonam today
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will virtually inaugurate free new houses for 41 displaced Irular families at Melpakkam village near Arakkonam in Ranipet on May 29 (Thursday), providing a permanent settlement for the tribal community. This comes after the State Highways Department acquired patta land, which were provided to the affected Irular families by the district administration, for the widening of Kancheepuram - Arakkonam - Tiruttani Road (SH 58) in 2023. As part of a compensation, the State Highways decided to provide land and build new houses for beneficiaries at a cost of ₹6.32 crore. 'It's a dream come true for us because, as a community, we have lived in roadside make-shift tents for generations. We are happy that our children will now have a safe place to stay,' said V. Mayan, an Irular. Accompanied by Collector J.U. Chandrakala, Minister for Handlooms and Textiles R. Gandhi inspected the new houses and interacted with the beneficiaries. He urged Irular families to enroll their wards in schools. The Minister also directed officials to plant more fruit bearing saplings in the housing quarters to provide shade and as a supplementary income for the Irulars. 'Considering the displaced are poor tribals, the State Highways decided to build new houses for them for the first time. The new dwelling has all basic facilities like power supply, water connection, washroom and lights,' K. Mukundan, Assistant Divisional Engineer (ADE), State Highways (Arakkonam division), told The Hindu. Facilities provided Each house, built at a cost of ₹10.70 lakh, measures 355 with a living room, bedroom, kitchen and attached toilets. A community hall with a seating capacity of at least 100 persons and an anganwadi centre are also being built. It also has a temple and a protective wall. To ensure safe drinking water to the families, an overhead tank (OHT) with a capacity of 30,000 litres also forms part of the basic amenities. The pathways in the village are also being re-laid with bitumen for easy access by ambulances during emergencies. Highways officials said that widening of the stretch is part of the Chennai - Kanyakumari Industries Corridor project by the Centre under the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) that aims to connect key coastal cities like Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Kanyakumari. Funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB), the stretch has been widened for a distance of 41.77 km between Kancheepuram and Tirutani at a cost of ₹359.06 crore since mid-2021. The existing lane has been converted into a 10 m wide two-lane stretch with storm water drains, footpath, 18 small bridges and 124 culverts.
The Hindu
10-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Work to rejuvenate irrigation tank near Walajah town begins
Work on rejuvenation of the irrigation tank, which is maintained by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), at Thenkadapanthangal village near Walajah town in Ranipet commenced on Saturday. Minister for Handlooms and Textiles R. Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the work in the presence of Collector J. U. Chandrakala. 'Work on deepening the tank will be done. It will help to collect excess rainwater discharged from storm water drains in the surrounding villages and from the hillock during monsoon,' C. Priya, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), DRDA (Arcot), told The Hindu. Officials of DRDA said that strengthening the bund of the tank is the major work that will be done as part of the work. It will help to prevent inundation of surrounding villages during monsoon. At present, the bund is around two metres in height and 2.5 metres wide. The rejuvenation work will increase the total height to three metres. More importantly, the width and height of the bund will be evenly maintained in the tank area as part of the work. Such evenness of the bund will help to store at least additional 5,000 cubic metres of water. Spread over 17 hectares, the rejuvenation of the tank, which has a total capacity of 1.5 lakh cubic meter of water, is being undertaken under the Rehabilitation and Restoration of Lakes scheme 2024-25 at a cost of Rs 6.62 lakh. Desilt and deepening of the tank will be done to its original depth of four metres. Existing inlets in the tank will be revamped for free flow of rainwater from storm water drains in the villages. Inlets are 10 ft wide and run to a distance of one kilometres. A tiled walkers' path on the bund of the tank will be laid. Seating arrangements, solar powered LED streetlights, a compound wall and signages on the bund are also being done. Saplings will be procured free of cost from the Department of Horticulture and farmers to plant around the tank. A children's park, play area and watchtowers on the open space of the tank will also be part of the work. DRDA has 26 tanks in the district. In this regard, three tanks including Thenkadapanthangal tank have been taken up for rejuvenation. At present, more than 15,000 residents in at least eight surrounding villages, depend on the tank for consumption. Borewells were laid around the bund of the tank by local bodies to meet water needs for its residents. It also helps in increasing ground water level to 3 kms radius in its proximity.
