Morampudi mishap: officials under fire - The Hindu

Morampudi mishap: officials under fire - The Hindu

Morampudi mishap: officials under fire

B.V.S. BHASKAR

Authorities accused of not taking precautionary measures to curb accidents

The National Highway authorities and the local units of road transport and traffic police have come under fire, after three people, including a child, died in an accident when a school bus carrying the YSRC activists hit a car and three motorcycles at Morampudi junction on the NH5 on the outskirts of Rajahmundry.

Morampudi junction is privy to many ghastly accidents in the past. A similar trend is seen at two more junctions between Kakinada and Rajahmundry. According to the records available with the traffic police, 26 major accidents occurred at Morampudi junction, killing 8 people in 2012. Sources hint at another 10 unregistered deaths too. In 2013, 11 persons lost their lives in 39 road mishaps there. Last year, the number of deaths, however, came down to nine in 24 accidents (data till October).

In various instances, motorists blame it on the faulty design of the road here. “Morampudi is considered a dangerous stretch as the construction of the Highway is faulty. The road from Bommuru (Vijayawada side) near Horlicks factory is laid at a higher level and then it plunges to a very low point till Morampudi Junction; visa vis at the other side from Lalacheruvu (Visakhapatnam side). Heavy vehicles coming at a high speed can’t see other vehicles and the there are no barricades too,” says Goli Ramarao, a medical practitioner.

A car dealer and industrialist Kantipudi Sarvarayudu, had installed CCTV cameras at the junction by spending from his own pocket, besides spending Rs.5 lakh more to donate steel barricades to traffic police. “One of the CCTV cameras installed at the junction captured the sequence of the accident. Traffic police are not using the barricades which I gave them three years ago. The RTA, traffic police and National Highways authorities must own responsibility for the accident as they have failed in taking precautionary measures at this junction,” said Mr. Sarvarayudu.

Meanwhile, Gorantla Butchaih Chowdary, who rushed to the spot, said that he would convene a meeting with the National Highway authorities, R&B officials and the Commissioner of Rajahmundry Municipal Corporation to find out a permanent solution to the problem. He favours construction of four flyovers and four more under-bridges to address the traffic bottlenecks on this stretch.

Thousands witness Antarvedi chariot festival - The Hindu

Thousands witness Antarvedi chariot festival - The Hindu

Thousands witness Antarvedi chariot festival

B.V.S. BHASKAR

Fervour marks ‘Kalyanotsavam’ and ‘Mudrikalankarana’

Devotees take part in Lord Lakshmi Narasimha Swami chariot festival at Antarvedi on Friday.—Photo: B.V.S. Bhaskar

Thousands of people from different parts of East Godavari district and adjourning West Godavari witnessed chariot festival (Rathotsavam) of Lord Lakshmi Narasimha Swami at this popular temple on Friday.

Earlier on Thursday night, celestial wedding of Lord with goddess Lakshmi was attended by huge crowd from different parts of the State including Deputy Chief Minister N. Chinna Rajappa and other VIPs.

On Friday, the chariot festival started at 2.40 p.m. amid elaborate security arrangements which saw deployment of uniformed personnel drawn from Kakinada, Rajahmundry and Amalapauram.

The chariot was decorated with bananas and other offerings made by devotees from several villages. It started from Rajavari Street and stopped at Aswaroodambika temple. Antarvedi temple chief priest Vadapalli Butchi Babu presented sari, bangles, turmeric powder to the goddess Aswaroodambika (known as sister of Lord Narasimha).

The chariot returned amid chants of “Govinda, Govinda” and reached 16-pillar mandapam late in the evening.

The ‘Kalyanotsavam’ was held on Thursday night and it was preceded by ‘Mudrikalankarana’, the main ritual before the ‘kalyanam’ was organised in a traditional manner. Bellamkonda and Vundavalli families sponsored the ritual.

Assistant Commissioner of the Endowments Department Bhramaramba and chairman of the temple Raja Kalidindi Simha Gajapati Bahadur and chief priest Vadapalli Butchi Babu led the procession of processional deities on different ‘vahanas’ before the Kalyanam, designed by Adabala Venkanna of Sringavarappadu in the evening. Priests from Peruru have participated in special puja to Koormanatha Swami, whose idol was caught in the nets of fishermen in Raktatulya river during the 14th century. Razole MLA Gollapalli Suryarao brought “madhuparkalu” (new clothes) to Lord Narasimha, Goddess Lakshmi and Polamuru family from West Godavari brought “talambralu”. Joint Collector Satyanaryana, festival chief and RDO Ganesh Kumar and P. Gannavaram MLA Pulavarthi Narayanamurthy also participated.

NGO to launch two centres in Rajahmundry - The Hindu

NGO to launch two centres in Rajahmundry

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Rajahmundry (rural) MLA Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary on Monday laid foundation for Atal Behari Skill Development Centre (ABSDC) for economically backward youth and N.T. Ramarao Cultural, Heritage and Personality Development Centre (N.T.R. CHPDC) in Butchaiah Nagar of Pidingoyyi in his constituency. These two centres would be run by an NGO, Balakavi Educational Seva Trust (BEST), with the support of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Mr. Gorantla garlanded the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and hoisted the tricolour on the occasion of Republic Day. Rajahmundry Deputy Mayor Vasireddy Rambabu, Nyapati Lakshmi Narasimharao, grandson of one of the founders of The Hindu Mr. Nyapati Subba Rao Pantulu and Kantiputi Sarvarayudu, industrialist and senior BJP leader participated in this function. BEST vice-president Prof. V.V. Krishna and secretary B. Padmaja said that they would take necessary permission and from the State.

‘Prabhalu’ processions add colour to Sankranti festivities - The Hindu

‘Prabhalu’ processions add colour to Sankranti festivities - The Hindu

Prabhalu’ processions add colour to Sankranti festivities

B.V.S. BHASKAR

People from all walks of life participate in celebrations with zeal in Konaseema region

People take part in “Prabhala Utsavam” in Gangalakurru Agraharam Cheruvu inEast Godavari district on Friday.—Photo: B.V.S. Bhaskar

The youth and middle-aged from 16 mandals of Konaseema and Non-Resident Indians have enthusiastically took part in most popular traditional fete ‘Prabhala Utsavam’ in East Godavari district. Moreover, this year the locals brought their friends from Telangana State to witness the extravaganza that added more colours.

The ‘Agraharam’ culture is still alive in some villages in Konaseema, from where ‘Prabhalu’ will be taken out in a massive procession in which people from every house cutting across caste, creed and religion lines will participate. This is said to be a 400-year old tradition in this area and most of the Agraharams celebrate this festival with participation of thousands of people from every nook and corner of Konaseema. The interesting point is that every year there will be tough competition between the villages relating to the height of the Prabha (arch) that a village decorates.

‘Prabhalu', specially decorated arches with Lord Siva's replicas with bamboo sticks and new clothes, were taken out in a huge procession from about 150 villages in Konaseema area. The processions add to the beauty of Konaseema during Sankranti festival. This is in addition to cockfights and special decorations to temples. The ‘prabhalu’ fete is on the lines of the one held at Kotappakonda in Guntur district. But, unlike in Kotappakonda, the event in Konaseema is held on ‘Kanuma', the third day of the four-day festivities.

The main attraction is the height of the Prabhalu. One should not miss to witness the way the procession is taken out. Crackers from the famous Vetlapalem will be burst throughout the procession. This year the tallest ‘Prabha' was brought from Vakalagaruvu village with 43 feet height that attracted every one on Friday.

In Konaseema area, the festival is popular only in areas like Kothapeta, Ambajipeta and Jagganna Thota. Gunnepalli Agraharam, Vyagreswaram, Mukkamala, Pulletikurru, Irusumanda, Gangalakurru and Gangalakurthi Agraharam villages will bring Prabhalu in a procession. ‘Ekadasa Rudra Prabhalu’ of Mosalapalli of Jaganna Thota are the most popular. “A plaque in Bhogeswara temple in Mosalapalli has a mention about this. Prabhalu used to come from Jaganna Thota and other villages to this place,” said Subbarayudu, chief priest of the temple.This year, NRIs from the USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand and other countries came to witness Prabhalu during Sankranti.

ONGC to start production in Nagayalanka - The Hindu

ONGC to start production in Nagayalanka - The Hindu

ONGC to start production in Nagayalanka

BVS BHASKAR

A Field Development Plan will be submitted by the month-end

The joint venture of public sector oil major ONGC Ltd and Cairn India which struck huge oil and gas reserves at Nagayalanka and other villages in Krishna district, is all set to commence production. A Field Development Plan (FDP) will be submitted by the month-end.

Besides, the ONGC is gearing up to start production in Mandapeta in East Godavari and Malleswaram oil and gas reservoirs in Krishna district explored over a year ago. The Mandapeta gas field will be developed on a fast-track mode for a yield of 2.5 lakh cubic metres of gas a day within a year while efforts are on to produce 250 tonnes of oil a day from Malleswaram plant within two years.

Executive Director of ONGC, Rajahmundry Asset, Debashish Sanyal told The Hindu that once the FDP was approved, a sum of $ 700 million to $ 750 million would be invested on the block in five years. The investment would include creation of production facilities, the ED said.

“As per the Declaration of Commerciality (DoC) documents, the Nagayalanka field has oil resources of about 320 million barrels, of which about 40 million barrels can be recovered. There are also small amounts of gas with recoverable reserves of around 70 billion cubic feet (BCF)," Mr. Sanyal added.

In phase I, five exploration wells were drilled and the Nagayalanka-1z well resulted in the Raghavapuram discovery. In phase-II, the Nagayalanka-SE-1 exploration well was drilled and resulted in discovery of hydrocarbons. On future development plans, Mr Sanyal said 20 wells would be drilled in the next three years. ONGC would undertake cluster drilling (drilling of more than one well from a single point) in four clusters with each cluster having five wells.

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“We are using Tummalapalli uranium reserves on large scale” - The Hindu

“We are using Tummalapalli uranium reserves on large scale”

by B.V.S. BHASKAR

Chief Executive of Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), Hyderabad, Dr. N. Saibaba

Noted nuclear scientist and Chief Executive of Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), Hyderabad, Dr. N. Saibaba has said that the uranium reserves that were found about four years ago near Tummalapalli village in Kadapa district in large scale are being used in massive scale from the last eight months in most of the nuclear reactors in the country.

He stated that with alcoholic bleaching system, the NFC secured excellent results from Tummalapalli fields and found about 2 lakh tonnes of uranium in that area.

In an exclusive Interview to The Hindu , Dr. Saibaba said the NFC depended on the uranium plant in Jharkhand earlier, but qualitative uranium from Tummalapalli was being used in atomic power stations and defence laboratories.

He said that the NFC at Hyderabad is the most important link in India’s nuclear fuel cycle. It produces fuel for all the nuclear power reactors of the country. It also produces components such as blanket fuel containing thorium pellets, nickel and steel reflector assemblies and others for FBTR (fast breeder test reactors).

Special alloy

Dr. Saibaba said NFC produced a special alloy of Nioblung-Hafnium and Titanium for India’s space programmes, which has been successfully tested. He said: “Till now, the two reactors at Kalpakkam are using FBTR and now we are going to commission Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), a new type of reactor with 500 MW power capacity.” He said there were three important stages in PFBR and the NFC would cross the second stage after commissioning, heralding a new chapter in Indian atomic history.

Misconceptions

When asked about radiation affects and opposition to the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Project, Dr. Saibaba said that there were many misconceptions about nuclear power among the public and environmentalists, which should be cleared by nuclear scientists and academicians. He said all the nuclear plants were located near sea coasts and no major accident was reported in our country till date. “We are having the expertise and technology to tackle reactor problems during earthquakes and tsunamis like Fukushima in Japan,” Dr. Saibaba added.