CHENNAI: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday inaugurated 4,044 tenements for the poor, fly-overs, bridges, 109 new buses, 40 small buses, facilities for devotees in many ancient temples and Air Quality Monitoring Vehicle for Chennai.
She also unveiled the statue of freedom fighter Ondiveeran at Palayamkottai in Tirunelveli district.
TRANSPORT: The Chief Minister flagged off 109 new buses and 40 small buses for Chennai in 13 routes, all bought at a cost of Rs.29.54 crore and declared open three depots at Sholingur, Orikkai II and Iluppur, built at a total cost of Rs.2.90 crore. Of the 109 buses, nine are for Metropolitan Transport Corporation in Chennai, 12 A/C buses are for Chennai Express Transport Corporation. Rest of the buses are shared among Coimbatore (25), Madurai (6) and Tirunelveli (2).
SLUM CLEARANCE: She declared open 4,044 multi-storey tenements constructed at a total cost of Rs.272.68 crore, in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Coimbatore and Erode districts. These tenements are located at Parthasarathy Nagar, Chennai (128 ) Sathyavanimuthu Nagar (392), Nehru Park (288), Pillaiyarkoil (32), Lock Nagar (304), Andimanya Thottam (48), Kotturpuram (136), Navalur in Kancheepuram district (2,048), Sundakamuthur in Coimbatore district (224), Sulur (240), Suriyampalayam in Erode district(204). Six families received the keys for their tenements in person from the Chief Minister.
POLLUTION CONTROL: The Chief Minister also flagged off the Continuous Air Quality Monitoring Vehicle of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, bought at a cost of Rs.1.25 crore. This mobile system can gauge the extent of sulphur di-oxide, nitrogen oxide, Ammonia, Ozone, Carbon Monoxide and benzene present in the air. Besides, this system would be useful to monitor the extent of pollution during the festivals like Deepavali and Bhogi and give on the spot report about the quality of air at a particular place. She also launched two softwares - one created at a cost of Rs.10 lakh for enabling the public to lodge their complaints about pollution to the TNPCB and another (Rs.5 lakh) for disposing applications from factories for handling harmful wastes.
HIGHWAYS: Jayalalithaa also inaugurated the new flyover constructed at a cost of Rs.35 crore, near the Anna Arch in Anna Nagar. Three bridges, two railway overbridges, one railway underbridge, two office buildings and one integrated Chief Engineer quarters, all constructed at a cost of Rs.106.02 crore. She also laid foundation for new bridges, railway over-bridges etc., to be constructed at a total cost of Rs.1,254.78 crore.
HR AND CE : Meanwhile, the Chief Minister declared open halls for Annadanam in 21 ancient temples, residential quarters for temple employees, rest rooms for devotees, hostel for monks, commercial complexes, overhead water tanks and basic amenities in number of temples, constructed at a total cost of Rs.41.14 crore.
TAMIL DEVELOPMENT: The Chief Minister unveiled the statue of freedom fighter Ondiveeran, installed at a cost of Rs.64 lakh at Palayamkottai in Tirunelveli district and declared open the exhibition hall which depicts the life-style of ancient Tamils, established at a cost of Rs.3.46 crore.
MUNCIPAL ADMN: On February 27, the Chief Minister had inaugurated projects and buildings for the Municipal Administration Department, completed at a total cost of Rs.735.73 crore and laid foundation for new schemes worth Rs.119.22 crore. The completed works include underground sewerage scheme in Tiruvottriyur (Rs.9.34 crore), 19 Amma canteens in Chennai, seven Primary Health Centres and parks in several places.
She also commenced the project for constructing solar-powered green houses for hutment dwellers in town panchayats at a total cost of Rs.420 crore. In the first phase, 20,000 families living in mud houses and hutments would be allotted these houses. Two families received the allotment order from the Chief Minister at the Secretariat.