Tuticorin Thermal Power Station [TTPS] or Tuticorin Thermal Nagar Life Part -1
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Tuticorin Thermal Power Station [TTPS] or Tuticorin Thermal Nagar Life Part -1
Tuticorin Thermal Power Project [TTPP] is a famed place which brought industrial muscle to Tuticorin and which made the industries like SPIC [Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Ltd], HWP, TAC, SICGIL, DCW to flourish.
My father took a proud part in the construction of those economic power houses of Tamilnadu, as a Manager of S R Selvaraj & Bros Construction Company.
During those times, I was a child growing amidst the smoking chimneys and argon night lights of the
We used to visit the TTPP Quarters situated along the
The Camp-I is full of workers' life, a mixture of employees from Kerala Andhra & Tamilnadu. It has vibrant colours / lifestyle /memories of its own.
The Tuticorin general public may not be getting Good potable water from Tamirabarani – Vallanadu. But these salaried Govt staff got 24 hours good water flowing free on all their taps in those 1970's. FREE electricity for TTPS employees, FREE heaters so less LPG costs, FREE bus service, FREE cinema all these are common to even class 4 employee of TTPS.
All the houses in TTPP colonies divided according to status of the employee, as 4 storied TYPE II or two storied TYPE I houses.
We used to visit TYPE II 21/7, the house of the Tuticorin DK Secretary, our mama anf the TYPE I house of another uncle, an Engineer at the TTPS.
The camps are well planned, with self sustaining socio – cultural elements like Pillaiyar Kovil, Church, Shopping Plaza, Manamagil Manram, Play grounds, Fish market etc..
They used to air FREE TAMIL / English cinemas in their open air theatre just behind my uncle's house.
Sitting on the white river sand and viewing the latest films FREE at the Theatres are a fad those days, esp. before the TV / CABLE era in 1970 to 1980's. [When you return home, you notice your pant pocket / trouser pocket accumulated handful of silicon FREE]
Those who dislike sitting in the sand, or afraid of the cold night thenral wind, can stay at homes, and view the show from the balcony, as my mama's house is just jutting towards the ground.
The Manamagil Manram also housed a Carom Board / Table Tennis indoor games.. which we scarcely used.
Our major time pass at TTPS is going to the movies, playing on the roads / ground, chatting with friends till it is night 11.00, 12.00 about all the things adolescent…
There was a central "saralai kal" red stone ground at near the entrance of the camp.
Some grown ups played cricket always even in the harsh summers. We used to get good hits from their cricket balls, so the aged and matured people avoided the walk through the ground.
Facing the ground was a Big, asbestossed Society Hall which was mainly used as a Marriage Hall. The last function I attended there was the "Neeththaar Ninaivu Naal" of my maternal grandma Saraswathi Aachi, conducted with Dravidar Kazhagam rituals.
All the colonies of these Tuticorin Employees are well planned and well maintained.
The Barathi Nagar of the Tuticorin Port Trust,
The Spic Nagar of the SPIC Ltd
The Heavy Water Project HWP Nagar near SPIC nagar
I visited all those Nagars with my friends and families…
Out of all the SPIC Nagar is like Foreign City… It had a cemented open air theatre, it had magnetic security gates, it had the best of the best Shopping complex, and the houses were more spacious, more luxurious…
My brother was there in C-119. We saw some FREE Tamil Cinema, Russian Cultural Show there.
SPIC Chairman Muthiah Chettiar used to visit that open air theatre, and it is said it is where he used to signal the employees Bonuses with his 2 or 3 fingers, which meant the SPIC employees Diwali bonus will be 2000 or 3000 extra with the regular 8% bonus!.
The last movie which I saw in the SPIC nagar open theatre was Kamal's Double act in Indiran Chandiran.
But in SPIC nagar there is always a fear, a feeling that someone will question you regarding the right to be in that place. Which is not in TTPP.
The SPIC nagar also hosted a beautiful Social centre, around which some expos usually takes place.
The last time I visited was with my brother for a Clothing discount sales…
SPIC, HWP, Port Trust, TTPS, and TAC used to run FREE bus rides for their employees. Those buses were so neat and clean, so official… it easily finds place in memory.
Out of all the HWP and Port Trust buses are unique with their Central Govt Grey look, its glasses protected by wire gauze.
The SPIC bus is a Light Yellow [Beige] / Blue color border. It goes mostly empty, but strictly SPIC people or their relatives only permitted with tickets / token only.
The TTPS / TAC buses were the poorly maintained State Govt buses. They always run full with people, children – with or without passes.
Soon I saw lot of other institutions also joined the Tuticorin Roads the TNVASU [Tamilnadu Vetinary and Agricultural Sciences University] Fisheries college bus, Ramesh Flowers employee bus / van, the STERLITE copper industries bus, the Amulya Sea Foods Bus and so many other companies / institutions joined this bus race.
Thangam and Rathna Roadways the undisputed public carriers still rule the roost in Tuticorin, but the villages around Tuticorin are still best served by the Reddish KTC – the state run Kattabomman Transport Corporation.
OK, leave the buses; now return to the Colony life.
Visit to the Thermal Nagar always entails a visit to the CAMP 2 beach, a visit to the CAMP-2 Pani maya Matha Church [Church of the Saint Mary], the Balaji Temple of the Barathiar Port Nagar.
Also the breathtaking view of Tuticorin from the Mottai Madi – Top Floor of Thermal Nagar 21/7 Type II.
This Mottai Madi is a place where you can see the whole of Tuticorin in a Panoramic Hill view – Bird eye view. The wind is the only witness for us.
The giant 2 chimneys of the TTPS and its never ending grey tail of fume moving slowly towards the Srilanka…
Some say if the NAPTHA tower [the OCTOGON] of the SPIC bursts, whole of Tuticorin will be dead in a minute.
The Salt Pans across the sky… from left to right till the end of the lands, then the sart of the blue seas, the importing / exporting iron ships berthed at the sea port, the fishing vessels: steamers, sail boats, kattumaram's [catamarans]
During night time the sparkling lights along the entire sea coast from OLD PORT to NEW PORT and the TTPS chimneys, TAC, HWP and the SPIC chimneys adore the night skies like a Jewel Box and the dark sky as the velvet / satin holding the Jewels…
The STERLITE copper smelting industries took a safe distance away from the SPIC. It is situated along the Meelavittan – Madurai road, near Sankar Colony. This industry is considered another big risk for the safety of the Tuticorin.
So Tuticorin people live among the Worlds worst chemicals. I don't know the PPM [percentage of particulate matter] level or other environment updates about Tuticorin, is it available on net?
We can get daily Sun Rise, Sun Set, Tide information on net on roughly most of the cities on the Planet. Visit www.geourl.com
I also earnestly wish the PPM / SPM [suspended particulate matter] and other environmental updates too must be available on net sooner the better. [Yahoo and Google to note this]
OK, leave the PPM / SPM return to the memories of TTPS
My father gave me a 2nd hand Enfield Silver Plus [Palani athan's] for me take a daily ride to my Office the South India Carbonic Gas Industries Limited [SICGIL] where I was a Supervisor of the Liquid Co2 production plant.
I used this moped to explore the 7 kms from Sankar Colony to the TTPS / SPIC Nagar / Muthiah puram / Muthiah puram Bulk Stop / Murugan Theatre / Port Trust.
The road to Tuticorin Port is dotted with WEIGH BRIDGE's on both sides of the road. Once upon a time they were ANALOGUE. Now-a-days all are digital weigh bridges to weigh the Lorries to and fro the port or the industries…
Along this wind swept roads, we used to take a break for a pull of CIGARETTE, to escape the notice of mama, papa.
My heart aches for Tuticorin Life, again.
To be continued…
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