QChennai: DMK, AIADMK Spar Over LS Polls; LPG Tanker Strike Ends
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1. Dravidian Majors in War of Words Over Poll Performance
In the first Assembly session since the 2019 Lok Sabha election and the Assembly bypolls, the AIADMK and the DMK took potshots at each other over their respective electoral performances. While Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami claimed that the DMK won (the Lok Sabha polls) by making false promises, DMK president and Leader of the Opposition M K Stalin asserted that his party will return to power soon.
Palaniswami took a dig at the DMK leader, saying: “You claimed that you would come to power both at the top (Centre) and below (State). But the people have left you hanging in the balance.” He alleged that the DMK won the Lok Sabha polls by cheating the people with false electoral promises which, he said, was akin to a child being kidnapped using candy as bait.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Potable Water Supply Same as Before Summer: CM
Despite the unprecedented drought coupled with Karnataka’s failure to release water as per the Cauvery Authority’s order, the State government has been maintaining the quantum of drinking water supply as during the pre-drought period but receding groundwater table is causing trouble for people who require it for purposes other than drinking, said Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in the Assembly on Monday.
Intervening the discussion on a special mention raised by Leader of Opposition MK Stalin and MLAs from opposition parties, the CM said, “Despite the dams in State having very less storage and some other dams having gone dry, the government has been maintaining the water supply. When late leader J Jayalalithaa was the CM, 7,415 MLD of water was provided. Now, we are supplying 7,508 MLD. This supply was just 4,945 MLD during the previous DMK regime.”
(Source: The New Indian Express)
3. Chaos Prevails as Buses Fail to Roll Out of Depots
It was chaos in the city on Monday morning, as employees of the MTC went on a flash strike, protesting against the part payment of their salaries. Since the strike was held without notice, people set out as usual for bus stops and termini, only to find that no bus was being operated. A bus conductor at the Ayanavaram bus depot, where hundreds of passengers were seen waiting at 11 am, said they refused to ply buses as only 65% of net pay was credited.
During the morning peak hour, share autos and small vans were also limited, as they were transporting children to schools. The strike by the MTC staff gave an opportunity for share autos and autorickshaws to charge exorbitantly. T Chandran, a resident of Anna Nagar West Extension, said share autos that charged Rs 25 to reach Nungambakkam asked for Rs 40, and even if they were willing to pay, space was not available.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. Mediator Named, LPG Tanker Strike Called Off
Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar, the retired Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court, was appointed by the Madras High Court, to act as a mediator to resolve the rift between the LPG tanker owners’ associations and the three oil majors – Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), on Monday.
After hearing senior counsel ARL Sunderesan and advocate V Anantha Natarajan for the petitioner oil companies and NGR Prasad for the tanker owners’ associations, Justice P D Audikesavalu said having regard to the gravity of the matter, the counsel for both sides suggested that the matter may be resolved through mediation and also agreed that till the mediation is completed, the strike shall not be given effect to.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
5. Sharp Decline in Cases Against Auto Drivers
In what may surprise many, the city traffic police on Monday told the Madras High Court that cases booked against autorickshaw drivers for offences such as speeding, rash driving, stop line violation, driving without licence, not using fare meters, refusal to ply, overloading and so on had decreased substantially since 2014.
Filing an affidavit before Justices M M Sundresh and M Nirmal Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic - South) P Saminathan said that 3,393 cases of overspeeding were booked and a fine of Rs 10.21 lakh was collected in 2014, but the figures had reduced gradually over the years to 1,065 cases and fine collection of just Rs 3.22 lakh in 2018.
(Source: The Hindu)