Nageswara Rao Thamanam
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Killer cell phones
Residents of Fatehnagar in Hyderabad say cell phone towers are killing them - literally. Representatives of Sardar Patel house owners’ society have filed a complaint with officials of the town planning division of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
They say that electromagnetic radiation from the tower has caused the death of a woman. The officials swung into action and removed four rooftop cell phone towers. Chief city planner, B Purushotham Reddy, told TSI: “We have removed four cell phone towers. Permissions for new cell phone towers were stopped in February 2008. We are checking the stability of the rooftop cell phone towers.”
According to rules, cell phone operators need to submit no-objection certificates from neighbours and surrounding areas along with the structural stability certificate and building owners' agreement copy, among other documents to town planning authorities.
Of the 2,800 odd cell towers in the GHMC area, 1,154 cell phone towers were erected on building rooftops and another 1,791 are just poles on rooftops. The rest are erected on ground. All the major operators share these towers. There have been incidents of buildings developing cracks due to weight of the towers.
There is growing apprehension that some cellular operators have constructed the towers atop structurally weak buildings. Any damage caused to the buildings by these towers may put the lives of the people living around at risk.
GHMC officials served notices to all cell phone operators on the Andhra Pradesh High Court's directions to regulate rooftop cell phone towers. After a building developed cracks and under court directions, GHMC stopped granting permissions to erect cell phone towers. Planners say structural safety of buildings has to be accorded top priority before permission for the construction of towers. Clearly, until then, these factors had been pushed under the carpet.
http://www.thesundayindian.com/17052009/storyd.asp?sid=7084&pageno=1
--Nageswara Rao Thamanam
They say that electromagnetic radiation from the tower has caused the death of a woman. The officials swung into action and removed four rooftop cell phone towers. Chief city planner, B Purushotham Reddy, told TSI: “We have removed four cell phone towers. Permissions for new cell phone towers were stopped in February 2008. We are checking the stability of the rooftop cell phone towers.”
According to rules, cell phone operators need to submit no-objection certificates from neighbours and surrounding areas along with the structural stability certificate and building owners' agreement copy, among other documents to town planning authorities.
Of the 2,800 odd cell towers in the GHMC area, 1,154 cell phone towers were erected on building rooftops and another 1,791 are just poles on rooftops. The rest are erected on ground. All the major operators share these towers. There have been incidents of buildings developing cracks due to weight of the towers.
There is growing apprehension that some cellular operators have constructed the towers atop structurally weak buildings. Any damage caused to the buildings by these towers may put the lives of the people living around at risk.
GHMC officials served notices to all cell phone operators on the Andhra Pradesh High Court's directions to regulate rooftop cell phone towers. After a building developed cracks and under court directions, GHMC stopped granting permissions to erect cell phone towers. Planners say structural safety of buildings has to be accorded top priority before permission for the construction of towers. Clearly, until then, these factors had been pushed under the carpet.
http://www.thesundayindian.com/17052009/storyd.asp?sid=7084&pageno=1
--Nageswara Rao Thamanam
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
PRP could prove the kingmaker
Contrary to popular assumptions, the real threat to the Congress this time is not the grand alliance but the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP). The latter’s vote share is what will finally decide the winner. In the three coastal districts of Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam, of the 48 assembly constituencies the Congress had won 40 in 2004; whereas the TDP had managed to win only four. Independents won two and the CPI and CPI (M) one each. Back then, the Congress had grabbed most of these seats, with a margin exceeding 15% of the total vote share. After reorganisation, there are 45 assembly constituencies in these three districts. The PRP’s entry has profoundly altered power equations – to the extent that both the Congress and the TDP fear that if their candidates lose, it will in large measure be because of the PRP. Says M. Koteswara Rao, a student from Guntur: “The PRP has been drawing huge turnouts at public meetings, and will play a crucial role in deciding the winners in most of the constituncies.”
Chandrababu had been luring voters with “cash transfer” pledges and colour television sets for poor households. A once strong opponent of a separate Telangana, he has now done a complete volte face; he now supports its statehood!
Chiranjeevi’s younger brother, son and nephew are well known Tollywood heroes. All three inherited his fans, as though they were family property! The grapevine also has it that the PRP has sold tickets worth crores of rupees. In the last elections all the alliance partners – the TRS, the CPI and the CPI (M) – benefited, along with the Congress. All were exploiting the anti-incumbency factor. But now the three have aligned with the TDP to dethrone the Congress. This is the first time since its formation that Andhra Pradesh has three major political parties clamouring for the electoral pie.
Chandrababu had been luring voters with “cash transfer” pledges and colour television sets for poor households. A once strong opponent of a separate Telangana, he has now done a complete volte face; he now supports its statehood!
Chiranjeevi’s younger brother, son and nephew are well known Tollywood heroes. All three inherited his fans, as though they were family property! The grapevine also has it that the PRP has sold tickets worth crores of rupees. In the last elections all the alliance partners – the TRS, the CPI and the CPI (M) – benefited, along with the Congress. All were exploiting the anti-incumbency factor. But now the three have aligned with the TDP to dethrone the Congress. This is the first time since its formation that Andhra Pradesh has three major political parties clamouring for the electoral pie.
-Nageswara Rao Thamanam
http://www.thesundayindian.com/26042009/storyd.asp?sid=6990&pageno=3
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sinking a university of fame
On fifth of this month, a large group of students from ladies hostel of Osmania University in Hyderabad started demonstrations against the inaction by the University administration to look into their poor living conditions. As the Dean, Students’ Welfare approached the students during the protest, they took him into one of the rooms and locked him in. Dr Lakshman, the Dean, was released only after the vice-chancellor came down to the hostel and promised to get the building repaired. In another incident, the students of Old PG hostel forced the warden to eat the food they eat after a series of complaints by students about the poor quality of food. “More than a dozen students were hospitalised after they complained of vomiting and loose motions. This administration never responds promptly. We are forced to resort to such methods. Osmania has a history of students attacking faculty and other staff. But now, we do not want to attack them. We only want them to experience for themselves our plight” said Kumara Swamy, a PhD student.This list of strange acts does not end here. Students locked the mess secretary inside the store room as a protest against the huge hike in the mess bills. Finally, the warden had to come down and intervene to solve the issue. Last year, a group of students poured a bucket of sambhar on the warden’s head since he did not respond to their requests to maintain the quality of food. “We are paying huge amounts for the mess bill. Most of the students are from Telangana region, which is known for the prevalence of poverty. How can we pay 1500 rupees every month for this food? This administration does not even care about us.” said M Prabhaker, pursuing PhD in History.Osmania has become a real problem, as no one seems to be interested in running it properly. May be this is because 90 per cent of the students who come here are from outside and local faculty and administration neglect them.
Nageswara Rao Thamanam
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
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