Nolambur residents fast for road

CHENNAI: More than 600 residents of Nolambur, near Mogappair, from varied backgrounds and age groups, staged a hunger strike on Friday for a road. The protest was held at a venue opposite TI Cycles factory, Ambattur from 10am to 5pm. 

The residents demanded that Sri Ram Nagar Main Road be laid and said the 150m-long road has been a problem between them, Chennai Corporation and private land owners for seven years. "The road is the cause of all our problems," said G Suresh, president, Federation of Nolambur Residents' Association. "A school van with kindergarten children got stuck in a dump here two weeks ago and several of them fell. Some even suffer from spondylitis because of the travel." 

For more than 10,000 residents, this road is the only access to West Mogappair. It is now overflowing with sewage as the drainage system is also broken, the residents complain. "Our children are hospitalised often with infections due to the mosquitoes that breed because of the sewage. It needs to be cleared immediately," said Shivakumar Anirudhan, a resident. 

At least three parties claim ownership to different parts of the road. While the corporation acquired one part for Rs 87 lakh a year ago, it hasn't reached a settlement with other parties. "We can't lay a road in an unapproved layout. An affidavit has been filed in court. Rules don't allow the corporation to negotiate with the private owners or acquire the land directly. Residents can approach metrowater to fix the sewage line provided the private owners agree," said a corporation official. 

If no action is taken even after their protest, the residents have threatened to boycott the general elections. 

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Nolambur-residents-fast-for-road/articleshow/32878417.cms

Cops intensify checks

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chen-downtown/cops-intensify-checks/article5673326.ece

After a spate of chain snatching incidents in the neighbourhood, the police have pulled up their socks and taken steps to ensure residents feel safe, says D. Madhavan

For a fortnight now, residents of Anna Nagar and those of its neighbouring areas have been stopped at numerous check points. The spurt in chain snatching incidents in the area has led to such vigil.

The police have turned areas such as J.J. Nagar, Nolambur and Thirumangalam into a fortified zone with check points at almost every street and main road. Apart from examination of the motorists’ documents, the police are also checking for drunken driving.

“Earlier, checks in Anna Nagar were done mainly for drunken driving cases. Now they include verification of vehicle documents. We also keep an eye on the movements of residents and outsiders,” said a police officer.

Last week, more than eight chain snatching incidents occurred in a span of two days in the city, of which three took place in JJ Nagar, Nolambur and Thirumangalam. In fact, in December last year alone, of the 83 chain snatching complaints registered with the city police, Anna Nagar accounted for 19.

Interestingly, the city police commissioner S. George, resides in Nolambur. There is round-the-clock surveillance by beat policemen around his house with nearly a half-a-dozen CCTV cameras installed there.

Anna Nagar police district consists of Villivakkam, Aminjikarai, Maduravoyal, Rajamangalam, Kolathur, JJ Nagar, Nolambur and Thirumangalam. Unlike other areas within the Anna Nagar police district limits, Nolambur, Thirumangalam and J.J. Nagar have a high percentage of residents who fall within the high-income bracket. Further, these areas are thinly populated and less congested. This works in favour of criminals as they can make their getaway without fear of being noticed.

More importantly, most of the chain snatching incidents that happened in the past two months were between 5. 30 a.m. and 6 a.m., when police surveillance was low. The victims were women who were out in the morning drawing kolams in front of their houses.

“When we are busy with our kolams, we expect people, who are on the road this early, to be either a newspaper vendor or the milk man and are not alarmed by them. They take advantage of this and attack us. Also, they disappear in a matter of seconds,” said S. Devikala, a resident of Anna Nagar.

The beat police teams have now been increased with three policemen in each team, headed by a sub-inspector. Each team will always be on the move within their specified area. Besides this, special police teams in plainclothes are deployed on robbery-prone spots in the neighbourhood.

All entry and exit points have been sealed with an increased number of policemen at the check points there.

Residents have welcomed this initiative. They believe the increased surveillance should not be at the cost of personal liberty of the residents, who are mostly elders and pensioners. Further, residents also pointed that in the name of law and order, such steps should not be used to harass innocent residents. “We have noticed an increased presence of policemen in our neighbourhood recently. A sense of security is being felt,” said S.N. Balasubramanian, president, Exnora Club of Anna Nagar.

Cops throw ring around Anna Nagar to curb chain snatching

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2014-02-03/chennai/46962307_1_chain-snatching-anna-nagar-chain-snatching-incidents

Feb 3, 2014, 05.31AM IST

CHENNAI: The sudden spurt in incidents of chain snatching in Anna Nagar has forced police to throw a ring around the locality. Vehicles checks have been intensified, more plainclothesmen are on duty and barricades will be placed at all entry points to the locality.

Last week, on Wednesday night and Thursday alone, there were more than eight chain-snatching incidents in the city of which three took place in JJ Nagar, Nolambur and Thirumangalam in Anna Nagar. Police said in the last month, Anna Nagar district had reported a majority of the chain-snatching incidents.

Police found that the robbers take U-turns if they see officers on the road. "We have assigned police personnel in plainclothes on the stretches prone to robberies. If plainclothesmen see a suspicious vehicle they will alert personnel at the next check post to keep an eye on it. If the same vehicle tries to take a U-turn again, it will be cornered by another set of police," a senior police officer said.

Most of the robberies took place early in the morning when women were drawing kolams in front of their houses. Police said more than 19 of the 83 chain-snatching complaints registered in the city in December 2013 were from Anna Nagar.

Following the rise in robberies, a senior police officer conducted a review meeting to observe the modus operandi of the thieves. The officer said, "We found that many robberies were reported between 5.30am and 6.30am when there are very few beat police and vehicles on the road."

So police have decided to put barricades at all entry points to the streets and have police personnel manning them. "We have instructed police to conduct vehicle checks from 5am onwards," the officer said.

767 residents’ associations turn up at grievance meet

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/

CHENNAI, February 2, 2014

A total of 767 residents’ welfare associations participated in the first meeting held for redressing grievances pertaining to civic issues on Saturday. A total of 1,123 petitions were received.

Speaking at the meeting, Mayor Saidai Duraisamy said such meetings would be held at the zonal level in the next phase. “Residents will be invited to a meeting with officials after one week. The issues raised will be resolved.”

“We have requested the Corporation to initiate work on converting an unused Aavin booth to a ration shop in Ragavendra Colony,” said R. Sundaresan, president of Sayee Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association.

A residents’ welfare association of Nolambur raised the issue of poor sanitation facilities. “We do not have public toilets. Many poor residents defecate in the open,” said Parthasarathy, a resident.