Tiruchian

AAI is planning to invite bids as part of the expansion of the Trichy airport not only to operate and maintain the terminal building and commercial operations but also for the develop, maintain and operate cargo facilities and city side development near Trichy Airport. This is part of the grand plan that was laid out before to bring Trichy airport closer to the other international airports. This will in line with the expansion of passenger traffic in the airport due to increased International Air traffic to and from the city.  The passenger traffic in the airport increased by 86% to 33,125 on July ‘07 when compared to the same time last year.

The expansion of aprons and  runways are also underway as part of the Rs.220 Cr expansion plan drawn up last year. This Will include a new building for the Trichy airport as well.

By and large , Looks like a good improvement. The reports does not indicate how the current work is proceeding with respect to the plan.  Hopefully , it is not delayed too much.

Institute of Airlines and Travel Agencies ( IATA) has started to offer diploma courses to those aspiring in travel agancies and travel related disciplines. The institute offers Airline Ticketing and Computerized Reservation course on Galileo, Amadeus, Abacus and Saber, IATA/ UFTAAA course, Air Cargo Handling and Management course, IATA/ FIATA course, Air Hostess Course, Personality Development and Time Management.

It has also signed MoU with St. Joseph’s College, Trichy, to conduct the same courses for their college students.

For more details visit IATA website at: www.iatachennai.com

Source: The Hindu

The Trichy Regional passport office has made all the passport applications has to be filled online compulsorily except for those seeking ECNR and PCC endorsements.

Applicants have to register their applications in the website www.passport.gov.in before submitting the copy of the same to the Passport Office in person.

So it is a two stage process for submitting application.

Register the application online at  www.passport.gov.in

Submit your registered passport application in person to the regional office.

Applicants who do not have access to Internet can avail the services of the Ex-Servicemen Facilitation Centre functioning at the Passport Office campus in Tiruchi.

It does not say whether there is any time limit between online registration and manual submission.

Also, it is not clear whether this two stage process in effect only in Trichy Regional office ..

The Railway Board is launching a new campaign to promote cleanliness in the railway stations and hygiene on station premises, in passenger trains, railway lines and waiting rooms. Select stations will be identified for mechanised cleaning of nominated trains during their halt in the stations. Garbage and left over food/other catering waste would be collected from trains when they arrive at the stations.

Other high points in this are :

• Major railway stations will be provided mechanised high-pressure jets to clean platforms.
• Dustbins and garbage bags will be provided to the railway stations and will be kept in more places than now for easy garbage disposal.
• Garbage generated in coaches/trains will be collected at the end of the train journey.
• Garbage from station premises, platforms, yards, track in the station area will also be collected on a regular basis.
• Trains such as Shatabdi/ Rajdhani will have cleaning staff on board to collect garbage.
• More health inspectors for many stations.

This drive is being undertaken by Railway because IR is observing the “Cleanliness Year”

Now , think about this… It is being done by IR because it has attached some campaign to the year. Aren’t these basic amenities that any paying customer expect to get from any travel vendor like clean environment etc.  It is a shame that general public need some campaign year to get this.

Also, trains like Shatabtdi will get cleaning staff onboard.. Why not in every train..?  Just because they are paying less than Shatabdi prices, they should travel in an unclean environment. ?

One thing they should add to this list of things… Insulate the toilets and toilet doors from letting the smell out into the coaches. It does not matter which part of the compartment you are in , the smell finds a way to you.

I think the most of the hygiene issue will arise from the tracks itself just because of the pathetic design of the toilets in the coaches and its disposal mechanism of waste.

India is making strides in designing cars for Detroit, making cellphones for the world and launching satellites to Space, but could not take care of the design of railway toilets and general cleanliness in the trains ?
Disgrace……..

Trichy bus stand work is nearing completion and expected to completed by Oct 31. The new bus Stand will contain 33 new bays, additional two wheeler parking lots and a new toilet complex. This work is just the expansion of the existing bus stand near Trichy Junction and will continue to cater the same bus routes as before. But its layout is expected to reduce the congestion in the roads in and around the bus stand. Due to more space inside the busstand, may be we don’t have to deal with the buses crowding the adjacent roads .

But this is not going to reduce the private buses parking in the near by roads ( adjacent to Hotel Femina etc.) Not sure how they will be handled.

Trichy, being a city well connected by roads to its neighboring cities, has passable roads in many areas. The quality of the roads are not great but then it is about the same everywhere in the state. An hour of rain will just take away the top layer of the roads exposing the stones and bringing up the potholes. But I am talking about the width of the roads here. Some roads like the one opposite Campion School in cantonment area is broad enough for three buses to travel at the same time while there are roads which are actually streets in which buses ply like the Salai Road or west bulivaar road..

But, all is not grim.. Some of the roads that connect Trichy to other cities are being expanded. Recently I traveled by Road from Trichy to Tanjavur and the road is being expanded from Thuvakudi.

For the most part, the land has been acquired and paved. The flattening and solidifying the road was going on. One striking thing that I noticed was the area was devoid of trees. The traffic was flowing smoothly but slowly due to interruptions. This Highway needs to be broadened with the amount of traffic that is expected to flow and the amount of industries that are expected in that belt. ( Now that BHEL is expanding a lot) .

Other highways that are progressing smoothly are:

Trichy – Chennai

• Work has begun on land filling and levelling of the extended portions of the highway on the Tiruchi-Chennai By-pass Road.
• Two new bridges across the Coleroon, the Cauvery rivers.
• New fly-overs will come up at Ariyamangalam (Palpannai).
• Nearly 28 per cent physical progress has been achieved on the 40-km long Tiruchi-Padalur section of the Tiruchi-Chennai Highway.

Trichy – Madurai

• Work has just commenced on the construction of the fly-over at Mannarpuram will serve as a new by-pass road to the Madurai Highway, averting the need for vehicles to go via the residential areas in Crawford.
• Over 30 per cent of the work on the 124-km long Tiruchi-Madurai section has been completed so far.

Trichy – Dindugal

• New fly-overs will come up at TVS Tollgate and Mannarpuram.

Trichy – Karur

• Yet to start anywhere near Trichy

Looks like roads around Trichy are getting better.

When will the roads within Trichy will get better ?

We are all enamored about the focus of IT and ITES companies who are looking at the Tier II and Tier III cities. But now it appears that due to the enormous congestion in Tier I cities, the development of industrial clusters, corridors, estates, hubs and a whole lot of units in the services sector are choking themselves in this congestion and the private and public companies ( Non IT) are looking to move their facilities to smaller cities.

Nasscom has identified the following cities for rapid growth in the very neat future.

Chandigarh, Pune, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Mangalore, Mysore, Kochi, Coimbatore, Madurai, and Tiruchi.

But they also identify that the cities like Pune and Coimbatore are already overcrowded and falling into the same vicious cycle of more growth leads to more migration which leads to more growth and they think this cities are reaching a tipping point in favour of other tier II cities. The pressure on these towns has begun to show, exposing once more the inadequacies of the systems, and the inability of the private sector and the government agencies to act in tandem to promote new investment centres.

So what is the expectation of these companies ?

Better physical and social infrastructure in these towns.

So what infrastructure they are talking about ? Physical and Social infrastructure like below.

Physical infrastructure will include roads, transport, services, housing, air and rail connectivity, while social infrastructure should provide for educational institutions, health services, recreation facilities, and hotels.

Some of the companies are going away from the SEZ type development where they will build a township with all the amenities in a conclave somewhere outside the city. ( It reminds me of BHEL township.. It is so yesteryears…. We need to get over this)

Cognizant’s Managing Director and President R. Chandrasekaran says: “The primary reason for the IT industry to be attracted to a Tier II city or a Tier III city is its educational infrastructure and the resultant quality talent pool. The second important criterion is infrastructure. Availability of ‘A’ category commercial real estate space, preferably with SEZ notification, good roads, airport with good connectivity, and good hotels, is important.

Even if one or more of these may not exist initially, visible efforts to develop them in parallel become important. Otherwise, the initial enthusiasm will die down and companies may not grow in these locations.”

How very true.. It clearly says that the expectation from these companies is not that everything like great infrastructure should exist before they move in , but the public and private companies should have a plan to improve the infrastructure and should execute the same with a plan. These companies are ready to grow with the city but just needs a promise and a plan with honest execution.

Is is too tall to ask ?

I don’t think so.. This is a great opportunity for Trichy to wake up and add up / Speed up its already improving facilities.

Source: The Hindu.

Centre for Cauvery Delta Development Studies (CCDDS), a public trust recognised by Bharathidasan University, is starting three one-year post graduate diploma programmes in Retail Market, Capital Market and Tourism.

Classes will commence on October 21.

The last date for receipt of applications is October 15.

Application form-and-prospectus can be obtained by sending a demand draft for Rs.100 drawn in favour of Bharathidasan University Registrar payable at Trichy to

The Chief Co-ordinator,

Academic wing, CCDDS, B-28,

Second street,

Kannan Nagar,

Thanjavur 613007. T

The total course fees is Rs.10,000.

 With the country on the verge of a retail boom, this will be a very good avenue and knowledge that can be picked up. I did not see anywhere how this courses will be recogised by the industry or is there any other university / institution offering such courses.  May be prospectus will shed some light on this.

While browsing I stumbled upon this advt calling for resumes from aspiring software Engineers. The company is ADELA SOFTWARE & SERVICES (P) LTD and the contact address is JK SOFTWARE
1/1 Collector Office Road
Cantonment
Trichy – TAMIL NADU ,India 620001

 You can look at the advt here.

Good Luck.

Well..Actually it is getting more than a face lift. When you enter the Station complex , you will be greeted by vintage Steam engine. And the old vintage Station building is getting a face lift with new neon lights and new paint.

But with the station complex, the old adage ” Beauty is only skin deep” does not apply. In addition to the above mentioned changes, the platforms are getting a new look also. Check out the photos below.

The subways were clean as well. They were being cleaned with water (What!! Where are they getting water for this !) when I walked in. With the advent of drag bags , I guess the requirement for a porter to carry heavy luggage is reduced. So I actually saw couple of them bargaining for Rs 20 – Rs 30 instead of starting from Rs.50.

But the next photo   shows that the planning could have been little better. It is a monumental effort to walk in the mixture of sand and concrete. But hopefully this is completed now.

By the Way … Did I tell you that I was in Vacation in Trichy. It was simply Great and Glad to see all the improvements and progress that is gong on.

The city is bustling ……………………