One for the road

Although Kerala roads are pothole-ridden,narrow and congested,there is no dearth of fancy projects to keep weary commuters engaged on road sides.

Although Kerala roads are pothole-ridden,narrow and congested,there is no dearth of fancy projects to keep weary commuters engaged on road sides. Claimed to be a first of its kind initiative in South India,a dozen bus shelters in Kozhikode town are all set to go wi-fi. A commuter who wants to use the internet should send an SMS or call a mobile number to get the connection free of cost from BSNL. The service provider,after verification,would give a password to the commuter to access the wi-fi service. A customer would be allowed to enjoy the wi-fi internet connection for one-and-a-half hours at a stretch. The CPM-ruled City Corporation had implemented the road side show on a BOT basis. The first wi-fi bus bay was opened last week.

The 30 metre argument

Last month,an all-party delegation led by Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan had asked the Centre to reduce the width of the National Highways in Kerala to 30 metres against the national standard of 60 metres. Two Left ministers in Kerala - Local Administration Minister Paloli Muhammed Kutty and Transport Minister Jose Thettayil - have come out against the all-party demand. Both had stated that agreeing to the demand would stymie the states overall growth. The state should not miss out on the development of national highways over politics,said Muhammedkutty,a CPM central committee member. The action committee against NH-widening had demanded the resignation of the Ministers.

Taking on the govt

Additional Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary Industries T Balakrishnan has let loose a controversy by expressing his chagrin over the government decision to close down the bottling plant of Coca Cola. The unit at Palakkad had to wind up production over excessive exploitation of water and discharge of effluents. Earlier this year,a government-formed panel had recommended payment of Rs 200 crore as compensation for the affected persons in the vicinity of the plant. Balakrishnans comments against the government stand forced the Cabinet to depute the Chief Secretary to probe the issue. Two years back,Balakrishnan had taken a stand against the watershed Land Reforms Act,claiming it was outdated.

Custody death trouble

The custodial death in Palakkad of Sampath,an accused in the Puthur Sheela murder case,has put IPS officer Vijay Sakkare under a cloud of suspicion. Sakkare,the Superintendent of Police in Palakkad was leading the investigation into the custodial death which happened in March and was later asked to hand over the probe to the CBI. The High Court,which handed over the case to the CBI,had observed that the state police had tried to cover up the role of the SP. Two senior IPS officers in Kerala are now facing criminal cases against custodial torture during the early days of their career. DGP K G Premshanker and IG Tomin J Thachankary have been fighting such cases filed by victims for many years.