Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

All set for star-studded rally

By S. Dorairaj

CUDDALORE OCT. 11. The stage has been set for tomorrow's star-studded rally and protest march at Neyveli, demanding stoppage of power supply to Karnataka, which has denied Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

The police today conducted security rehearsals and the Neyveli Lignite Corporation is erecting barricades all along the procession route in the township to safeguard its vital installations.

Security has been tightened in the township. A huge gathering is expected to throng the lignite town as around 7,000 film personalities including artists, directors, technicians and others in the tinsel world, rallied under the banner of the Kalaiyulaga Cauvery Poratta Kuzhu, are likely to participate in the rally.

According to police sources, a detailed bandobust scheme has been drafted. The entire procession route and the meeting place opposite the NLC's corporate office have been divided into five sectors and each of them will be under the control of a DIG and three SPs.

The Additional DGP, R. Nataraj, is camping at the NLC's Neyveli House, coordinating the security arrangements with police personnel, while the District Collector, S. Thangaswami, along with officials of the revenue and other departments, supervised arrangements at the township and at a private engineering college near Cuddalore, where the film personalities would be provided lunch. Strangely, no key functionary of the forum visited the township till late in the evening, official sources said.

As many as 5,000 policemen, mobilised from different parts of the State, participated in the security rehearsals. A CISF officer said an additional company of the Central force might arrive to strengthen the safety and security of the NLC installations. While the State PWD had taken up erection of barricades from Paunambal Nagar to the Indira Nagar arch, the NLC had put up barricades on either side of the procession route on the Jyoti Ramalingam Road and also around the helipad, meeting venue.

Contrary to earlier claims that the stage would be designed and erected by the rally organisers, the task was carried out by the NLC itself. The film world was to provide the backdrop for the stage, a replica of the thermal power station-II, symbolising its protest against supply of 199 MW power from the station to Karnataka through the southern regional grid, the sources claimed.

``We have so designed the stage with three galleries to facilitate the public to view them without any problem. Around 15 enclosures had been erected to accommodate nearly 30,000 persons including the film personalities, the press and the public," an NLC executive said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Artists to put up united show
• `Bid to prevent bringing religion to marketplace'
• All set for star-studded rally
• Southwest monsoon has no bearing on northeast
• Aggravated contempt of court: T.N.
• Bishops fear misuse
• Delhi Archbishop questions T.N. ordinance on conversions
• Long-awaited ordinance: Andavan Ashram
• TN can be Singapore's manufacturing base: CM
• Christians readying for `ahimsa struggle'
• Compensate injured scribes adequately: HC

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu