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 Publication: 15th & 28th of every month Rs. 5 per copy (Annual Subscription: Rs. 100/-) WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI INSIDE • Short ‘N’ Snappy • The Namakkal schools • Cancer Institute experience • Interpreter to detective • ‘The Triplicane Express’ Vol. XXIII No. 5 MUSINGS June 16-30, 2013 Heritage buildings turn to ashes heritage buildings either par- Committee listing that has pre- – Mint fire tially or fully gutted (Moore vented this. But when disasters Market, Spencers, Gandhi such as fire strike, they become shows lessons Illam, GPO and Chepauk Pal- a heaven-sent opportunity to ace), all of them due to electric sweep away old structures. from the past short circuits, surely we ought Thankfully, the fire was re- to have learnt our lesson by stricted to one building in the are not now. Press. But there is no doubt that being learnt But that is not the case, as its replacement will be a PWD was evident in the present in- creation, completely out of round 4000 sq ft of built stance. The godown that place with what is surrounding Aarea was gutted by a fire at caught fire was stacked with it, thereby irretrievably damag- unwanted paper and scrap ing the fabric of the heritage the historic Government Press The Government Press, Mint. on Mint Street. The damage which, combined with faulty precinct. could have been much worse wiring, made for a tinderbox had it not been for the seren- that was in search of a lighted dipitous fact that the fire broke match. An argument against out during working hours and this can be that a press will so was detected and put out naturally have waste paper. But quickly. What is most distress- then should not such a facility How world-class is ing is that those involved in the also naturally take suitable pre- entire fire-fighting operation cautions to prevent fires? Ap- and the press re- parently not, for within days of our airport? leases that fol- the above-men- lowed accused G by tioned fire, a nd so, we finally have a collect whatever they had taken forever in getting ready the heritage smaller one The Editor new terminal at our air- checked in! On receiving com- still have to be full of incom- building of be- broke out at the A port. It took its time in coming plaints about this, it is learnt plete work necessitating an ing the villain of same location. up and, even when ready, had that the authorities instructed army of workmen continuously the piece, making it out to be The statement by the Gov- to wait for a long time to be in- airline operators to run battery- on the premises with their tools the cause of the fire! ernment that a new building to augurated. But those who were operated trucks in future. The cluttering every nook and The building has been in ex- replace the old facility of 4000 expecting world-class facilities airlines, already struggling un- cranny? Matters are going to be istence since the 18th Century, sq ft would be constructed has were in for a big disappoint- der losses, are complaining complicated further when the first as a power mill and later as been greatly welcomed. The old ment. Outwardly all glass and about the additional costs. international terminal is inau- a mint where the East India structure caved in during the international, it is internally be- Glass panels have repeatedly gurated in the next few days. Company struck coins for the fire-fighting operations. Those set with several problems, all in- cracked at various locations. The Chennai terminal has Nawabs of Arcot. It was later in charge of the Press say that dicative of faulty planning and But that is nothing compared to been built by the Airports Au- made over to the Government most of the structures in the worse execution. While this thority of India (AAI) sans any Press, which has been in opera- premises are old and so this kind may be endemic to the whole outside consultant or partner. It tion here for a long period of of an accident is bound to hap- country, how long are we to put G by A Special would perhaps have been better time. The precinct, for it houses pen. Unfortunately that is not a up with such shoddiness? if external help had been several buildings, has been tenable statement, as there are Correspondent It all began with the layout sought, given the current fiasco. listed as being of Grade 1 impor- several heritage buildings the of the terminal, which passen- But surely an Indian agency tance by the Justice world over which are being put gers declared was not user- which possesses several de- Padmanabhan Committee re- to good use and survive, thanks the falling down of false ceiling friendly. The exit did not link cades’ experience in running port on heritage structures and to good maintenance and pro- panels. This has happened to public transport facilities at airports ought to be an expert precincts. tection. twice. We have also had a fire all and passengers needed to on such matters by now. Clearly The fire, it has been said, was This awareness is sadly lack- to deal with. The latest is that trudge long distances before ac- more attention has been paid to due to an electric short circuit. ing in our city where officialdom the passengers are complaining cessing them. Next came the red tape and adhering to Gov- The fire services chief has made sometimes appears most happy about pigeon droppings and a discovery that there was a soli- ernment standards than more a statement that the building when there are fires of this kind massive beehive that is building tary ramp for handling baggage, practical matters. that was burnt had faulty wir- as it gives them an opportunity inside the terminal. The last both incoming and outgoing. It now appears that the only ing. The Press staff claim that to do away with the old and re- two are, of course, the least of That only slowed down the way out is to bring in some ex- the wiring is old because the place it with an incongruous the troubles; in any case, the handling of luggage. And there pert management in the run- building is old! Now where does new. We have in the past re- authorities ought to have was no exhaust facility to let out ning of the terminal. This may it state that an old building ported on how the Government looked into how their building gases accumulating from bag- be a blessing in disguise, as it should not upgrade its electrical was toying with the idea of de- could integrate with nature, an gage trucks in this underground could pave the way for cabling to prevent short cir- molishing the Press and replac- excellent example of which is ramp. This was let out near privatising the running of the cuits? Considering that ing it with modern highrise. It is the Bangalore airport. And fi- where the passengers stood to Chennai has so far seen five only the Justice Padmanabhan nally, does a terminal that has (Continued on page 3) CMYK 2 MADRAS MUSINGS June 16-30, 2013 The broiler Agony in Anna Nagar he Man from Madras single sign or it missed MMM’s T Musings was strongly re- eye. He was later pointed to a schools of minded of Hansel and Gretel. couple of signs that gave direc- Those two intelligent children, tions, but these were so small if you recollect, had marked that it was impossible to make their route into the forest with out what they were stating, es- Namakkal pebbles and had thereby man- pecially while driving. aged to return safely much to MMM had to resort to stop- passengers, but as to more im- the delight of their father but ping at every junction and ask portant information that it ecent trend in Board examinations in Tamil Nadu has been to the distress of their step- for directions. This was much needed to offer there was Rbetter performances by schools from the southern districts. mother. Standing at a cross- to the irritation of those in ve- none. The only option was to Students of Chennai, it had been long felt, were the creamy layer roads at Anna Nagar, MMM hicles behind who, it appeared, listen to the public address sys- having as they did greater access to better coaching, something was of the view that he too were in a tearing hurry. Amidst tem, which probably had been their counterparts in rural towns lacked. But surprisingly a new ought to have done the same. the honking MMM could installed when the station was inaugurated. “Bark bowow,” it trend has evolved in the southern districts. In particular it is so in But hang on, MMM can see barely make out what passers- by were telling him, but he un- went. And then “Bark bark Namakkal, where students are put under rigorous training for two that you, dear reader (to bor- row from Jane Eyre), are con- derstood enough to drive on. bark bowow, bark bark.” years. fused. What is MMM coming MMM crossed several of Anna There were lots more of it, but It was after Mala scoring 90 per cent in Class X that her parents to these days, you wonder, and Nagar’s famed residential MMM will spare you the de- blocks and as he was passing tails leaving you with the gist.