Amma's memorial will be complete by Dec: TN CM

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Monday told the state Assembly that former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's memorial here will be completed by this December.

To commemorate late Chief Minister M G Ramachandran's centenary, an arch was built here expeditiously, he said replying to demands for grants to PWD-Buildings department.

"The construction work of Puratchi Thalaivi Amma's (Revolutionary Leader Amma) memorial at a very grand level continues to be on and it will be completed by December 2019," he said.

The construction of the memorial at the Marina beach was being undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs. 50.80 crore, he added.

Construction of 'Yatri Nivas,' buildings at Rameswaram Ramanathaswamy (Rs. 29 crore) and Tiruvannamalai Arunachaleswarar (Rs. 28 crore) temples were on, he said.

Also, construction of 'Bharath Matha (Mother India) Memorial', with a library at Paupparapatti in Pennagaram taluk of Dharmapuri was progressing at a cost of Rs. 1.50 crore, he pointed out.

Veteran Congress leader Kumari Ananthan had for a long time demanded a temple for 'Bharat Matha' to realise the dream of freedom fighter Subramanya Siva who came up with that idea in 1923.

On use of Crushed Stone Sand (CS Sand), known as 'M-Sand,' Palaniswami said the government decided and recommended to use it as an alternative to natural river sand.

"For construction purposes, as an alternative to river sand, the government has decided and recommended use of crushed stone sand manufactured by way of using good quality strong stones crushed with proper machinery and complying with all requirements as stipulated by relevant codes of Bureau of Indian Standards," he said.

So far, quality of crushed stone sand for 112 manufacturing units in the State have been approved, he said.