Deferring environmental clearance (EC) for a thermal power plant of M/s Chettinad Power Corporation Limited at Tarangambadi Taluk in Nagapattinam district, the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has asked the project proponent to submit a detailed report on the impact on Olive Ridley turtles, including a data collected during the nesting season to be vetted by a competent authority.

It has also asked for the submission of a long-term plan for sustainable preservation of the turtles and its implementation by a competent institute and a para-wise response to the order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) regarding the turtles, fly-ash and archaeological importance of the site.

Chettinad Power is setting up a Rs 8,500-cr super critical thermal power plant in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu

BSE-listed Chettinad Cement is planning to invest around Rs 1,300 crore by way of equity in its associate company Chettinad Power Corporation, which in turn would use the fund to set up a Rs 8,500-crore super critical thermal power plant in Tamil Nadu. In a communication to the shareholders, the company said it had received a proposal from Chettinad Power Corporation Private Ltd seeking investment in its equity share capital for a supercritical thermal power project of 1320 Mw (660 Mw x 2) at Tharangambadi Village in Nagapattinam district.

The district pollution control board has issued a fiat in respect of using idols for the vinayaka chathurthi festival here.

The PCB has forbidden public from using dyed or painted idols and they are requested to use only clay idols. Idols must not be immersed in beach or lakes and it must be done 500 meters into the sea. The PCB has identified following sites for immersion.

“Direct sowing is the way out in times of delayed water release and scarcity’’

As acres and acres of untilled land dot the tail-end of the Delta this year, there lays a tilled stretch of some 20 acres in Madapuram in Thiruthuraipoondi, bordering Nagapattinam, in the first and the only rains that lashed a few days ago. Seventy-six-year-old Oysul Karunai awaits the second spell to re-till his fields and broadcast the seeds through direct sowing.

Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihood Mission Scheme (TNSRLM), a programme to alleviate poverty in rural areas by improving the income of the households, is to be implemented in 266 panchayats in Nagapattinam and Ariyalur district.

In Nagapattinam district, this programme would be implemented in 199 panchayats in the blocks of Semmanarkoil, Kollidam, Vedaranyam, Sirkazhi and Keezhayur during the current financial year, and in Nagapattinam and Thalainayar panchayat unions during 2013-14.

The Tamil Nadu tourism department is implementing a Rs 450-crore project along with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In the first phase, the department would take up the East Coast circuit followed by the Southern circuit. The main focus will be on improving infrastructure and safety.

The first meeting of the State Level Steering Committee in this regard was held here on Wednesday. Tamil Nadu is one among the four states selected by ADB for the Infrastructure Development Investment Programme for Tourism. TN is the only southern state with the other being Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The programme targets enhanced economic growth and provision of livelihood opportunities for local communities through tourism infrastructure development.

All seven functioning quarries ordered to be closed in Karur district

Sand quarries in the river Cauvery that are more than five years old have remained shut since Saturday following the Madras High Court directive. Through Friday night, vehicles awaiting their turn to load sand were hurriedly cleared and excavators at the quarries withdrawn on orders from PWD officials. Field officials visited the quarries on Saturday and erected road blocks and dug trenches across the entrance to prevent truck movement.

The Madras High Court Bench here on Monday ordered for production of licences granted by the Collectors of Namakkal, Karur, Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts to the Public Works Department for quarrying sand along the stretches of rivers Cauvery, Amaravathi and Kollidam flowing through the six districts.

A Division Bench comprising Justice R. Banumathi and Justice G. . Akbar Ali passed the direction after it felt that the counter affidavits filed by the officials did not contain information sufficient for disposing of the case.

Days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took additional charge of the finance ministry and called for the need to revive the economy by reversing the ‘climate of pessimism,’ the government took a

Project to come up at Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts, supporting infra to cost Rs 13,000cr

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the proposal of the Government of Tamil Nadu to set up a Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR). The region is expected to attract an investment of around Rs 92,160 crore. The project will come up at Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts in Tamil Nadu. It may be noted already the PCPIRs in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal and Orissa have got approvals.