A month ago, S. Vijay, a youth of Dharmapuri district working in a private company, sensed that rat poison might have been mixed with water of a potable water tank in Mettukottai village of Panakulam panchayat, Pennagaram taluk, as he found traces of the poison in the vicinity of the tank.
[This tank of two lakh litre capacity provides water to people in Pikkali panchayat, forming part of the Hogenakkal drinking water supply project.]
Immediately, Mr. Vijay had contacted not just an official of the panchayat to close the inlet and outlet of the tank so that the polluted water was not distributed for consumption but also cautioned the Pikkali panchayat president to stop the distribution of water from 11 overhead tanks, which received the supply from the Mettukottai tank.
On hearing Mr Vijay’s timely action, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday commended him and presented him a cheque for Rs. 1 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund.
About 2.11 lakh milk producers, belonging to the Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Vellore, Erode and Kanyakumari district cooperative milk producers’ unions, were eligible to get the incentive of Rs. 39.17 crore as the unions posted profits for 2012-2013. As a measure of token, the Chief Minister gave away cheques to three milk producers towards incentive.
Besides, four milk producers were symbolically given cheques as 5,100 milk producers belonging to 17 district cooperative milk producers’ unions had earned an incentive of Rs. 1.02 crore and best-performing 170 milk primary milk cooperative bodies received Rs. 14.45 lakh.
Ms. Jayalalithaa presented a cheque for Rs. two crore to M.A. Alagappan, president of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association, as the share of the State government for the Chennai Open to be held from December 30 to January 5. The State would be the “lead platinum sponsor.”
