CHENNAI/THENI/VELLORE: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the memorial of the British engineer, Colonel John Pennycuick, who built the Mullaiperiyar dam, the lifeline of farmers of the Southern districts.She laid the foundation stone through video-conferencing from Fort St. George for the memorial which would cost of `1.25 crore in the land owned by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TAN-GEDCO) complex at Lower Camp area in Theni-Kumuli Highway.The memorial will house a bronze statue of John Pennycuick. It will be constructed with a decorated entrance arch, teakwood doors and name boards with bronze letters.Pennycuick was credited with building the Mullaiperiyar dam across the Periyar river to divert the west flowing waters of Mullai and Periyar rivers to Vaigai river to irrigate 2.23 lakh acres.The Mullaiperiyar dam irrigates land spread over the Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram districts.The Chief Minister made an announcement on the memorial on January 8, this year, in memory of Pennycuick, who spent the proceeds from the sale of his family property for the construction of the dam.Through another video-conference from the Secretariat, she inaugurated 16 new sub-stations across the State and four upgraded sub-stations. This will reduce line loss and provide quality power to villages located around these sub-stations.The sub-stations are located at: Thorappadi, Rajakeezhpakkam, Kovilampakkam, Adayalacherry, Nallagoundanpalayam, Uratchikottai, Thirukkattupalli, Avaniapuram, T Kunnathur, Puthiragoundanpalayam, Nagarasampatti, Valadi, Mayiladuthurai, Ambasamudram, Kavarapettai, Saravanampatti (Sahara), Mariamman Koil in Thanjavur district, Thirukkanurpatti, Mayanur and at Kallal.The Thorapadi sub-station in Vellore was established at a cost of `6.50 crore. It has a capacity of 110/11 KV. Officials of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd (TANGEDCO) said that this sub-station will prevent low and high voltage and streamline power supply to Allapuram, Krishna Nagar, Sainathapuram, Sripuram, Virupatchipuram and around 50 villages nearby.The CM inaugurated an integrated registration office complex at Tirunelveli (Ponneetrankulam) and new buildings for sub-registrar offices at Rajakkamangalam in Kanyakumari district and Athur, Dindigul district. She also presented appointment orders to legal heirs of 32 employees of the Registration and Commercial Tax Department and to the legal heirs of 160 employees of the Public Works Department who all died in harness. The CM handed over 45 vehicles for engineers of the Public Works Department to use.
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