Registered with the Reg. No. TN/CH(C)/374/12-14 Registrar of Newspapers Licenced to post without prepayment for India under R.N.I. 53640/91 Licence No. TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-506/12-14 Rs. 5 per copy (Annual Subscription: Rs. 100/-) WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI INSIDE • Short ‘N’ Snappy • Trichy’s Madras links • Desecrating a memorial • Tales of 3 newsmakers • An early Madras scam Vol. XXII No. 19 MUSINGS January 16-31, 2013 More money for tourism But who will maintain the infrastructure to international standards? arly this month, the Government announced a Rs 27.6 crore package for providing infrastructural Efacilities at various tourist spots across the State. The money, it has been specified, will be spent on basic amenities in all these areas. The basic premise is good. Given that all the identified tourist spots are almost completely unknown to the world at large, it will bring them some much-needed development. But what of those that are popular destinations at present? They too lack the same infrastructural facilities and G whatever there is, it is shabby favoured status, it is so poorly on a tender, they take ages. So George Town beyond description thanks to equipped with conveniences to what end these improvement lack of maintenance. So what and other facilities. What there schemes? does the Government propose are, were inaugurated with There is talk that the pow- much fanfare and then left to ers-that-be are working on a A tinder box to do? The basic amenities that the elements. What is main- Tourism Policy for the State. have been defined in the revival tained well is kept locked, only This may, therefore, be the cor- package include toilets, lodging to be used by VIPs who, in any rect time to assess what needs waiting facilities, drinking water, dining case, prefer the private resorts. to be done. And here are a few hall, cloak rooms and approach points to ponder: roads, the last named taking up 1. Evolve a public conve- almost 50% of the overall out- G by A Special nience/infrastructure policy to explode lay. Going by the same yard- Correspondent for all tourist locations and stick, can we say that these fa- highway halts (every 100 (By A Special Correspondent) cilities exist in the currently km) in the State and not popular tourist spots? Are any just a few. This way, every he New Year began with a fire breaking out on the second of the toilets in public places, The problem with such Gov- destination, be it major or Tfloor of a modern commercial complex in the George Town such as parks, temples and mu- ernment initiated ‘improve- minor, will benefit and have area. Happily, no lives were lost, which was to the good. But the seums, even remotely usable? ment schemes’ is that they do the same minimum stan- fire could be put out only after a struggle. What, however, emerged And would anyone who can af- not benchmark themselves dards. once again was the fact that new buildings in the oldest part of the ford to stay elsewhere wish to against world standards in plan, 2. Create a standard design for city, as in several other places too, are coming up without any ad- stay in Government con- execution and, above all, main- each amenity that is world- herence to fire safety norms and regulations. Even if the original structed ‘lodging facilities?’ tenance. They are all put up on class and ensure that this is construction conformed, later additions put paid to such precau- Take, for instance, the best the basis of PWD standards implemented across all the tions. The question is, what are our regulatory authorities and known tourist attraction which, we all know, amount to locations. This is not the planning agencies doing when these buildings are constructed and, around Chennai-Mamalla- little. And all this is done at a present practice which is later, modified? puram. Despite its UNESCO- tardy pace that would make the The fire in the building under question broke out at 8 a.m. in a ancients who constructed our (Continued on page 7) completely enclosed room with no windows. It was a good 45 min- temples wonder if we have pro- utes before the fire was detected and fire-safety personnel informed. gressed or regressed with time. When they arrived, they found the going tough. The windows to Finally, there is never any main- the office were barred with grilles and even the use of the sky-lift tenance. Given that even bro- proved useless. Access was gained only by breaking open the front ken fittings are replaced based door and, by the time all this was done, the fire had spread. Fire tenders from various parts of the city had to be pressed into service to contain the conflagration. It also transpired that there was no fire-fighting equipment on the premises. Considering that every building in the city is to be built/modi- fied only after the CMDA/Corporation approves the plan, how are such fire accidents repeatedly taking place? Adherence to fire- safety norms is one of the criteria on the basis of which approval is given. If so, how is it that such buildings are allowed? It is well known that, in our city, the plan submitted for approval is often entirely different from what is finally constructed. This is why our civic authorities are supposed to visit building sites while work is in Two locked public toilets at progress and ascertain compliance with what has been approved. Mamallapuram and a sink with no taps. (Continued on page 7) CMYK 2 MADRAS MUSINGS January 16-31, 2013 Senior citizens develop New Year resolutions ow that the 1st of Janu- and also has darkened windows where power is turned off at Nary has gone by and the and sports a pennant/political the main for a full day on ac- next one is a long way off, The flag: This is a vital necessity. count of maintenance. an arboretum Man from Madras Musings has When these vehicles speed However, the general view begun charting out a wish list/ along, policemen do a double in the mofussil is that MMM ntil two years ago Yerrangadu, 100 km south of Chennai, near resolution list for this year. act. They salute and, at the belongs to a privileged order for he has outages only for two the east coast, was a little-known village. This stretch of bar- This is not to be confused with same time, abuse all other law- U the idealistic list made the 1st abiding users of the road for hours in a day and, then, for a ren land with little vegetation is now the home of an arboretum. of January which had such being in the way. It is a tough full day just once in a month. It is a good example of conservation of biodiversity and of rear- quixotic resolutions as at- act. Apparently, out there in the ing hundreds of species of plants and trees little known in the area. tempting to defy MMM’s good A convoy to accompany an outback, power is hardly ever lady also known as She Who SUV that has a swirling red there. Let them use candles, In the US, an arboretum housing hundreds of trees and plants is Must Be Obeyed. By the 15th light, the letter G inscribed on appears to be the prevalent at- a familiar picnic spot in many cities and many have evolved as of January reality sinks in and its number plate, has darkened titude of the TNEB, now focal areas for nature education and research. MMM sets out to plan things windows and a pennant/politi- TANGEDCO. that are more achievable. cal flag: The number of ve- I had the privilege of watching the evolution of this arboretum And this year MMM has hicles in the convoy should be Memorials @ Mahabs over the last three years. The Cambridge-educated senior advo- put together a survivor’s list. such that they can cause traffic cate C. Ramakrishna, who has been transforming the villages By this he means a list that jams by themselves. The con- he Man from Madras around Illeedu and Vennangupet into lush orchards, had a small spells out all that MMM hopes voy will usually comprise ve- T Musings was recently the to have in order to be able to Man at Mamallapuram. And arboretum of a few dozen exotic trees in Illeedu. He was deeply as he drove along he was quite impressed by the much larger number of such exotic trees grown by move around in peace on Chennai’s roads. MMM has intrigued to see these objects another illustrious son of that area, the centenarian Muthumalla made attempts to navigate SHORT ’N’ by the roadside. You could al- Reddy. The exotic trees included decades-old mahogany, redwood, these as a pedestrian, as a pub- SNAPPY most pass them off as historic etc. lic transport user and in small- memorial stones. They had all and, later, medium-sized cars. the prerequisites – lying un- Ramakrishna, deeply involved in the social amelioration of the Having achieved only partial kempt by the roadside, cov- area, was keen to develop a unique farm with exotic trees and to success and a vast number of hicles of a brand that means ered with political posters etc. leave this for posterity. He had earlier donated land for the Na- scratches and bruises (both on emissary at court and will be MMM took a photo (below) tional Agro Foundation’s training centre.