QChennai: ‘Modi Is No Vajpayee,’ Says Stalin & More
Catch all the latest news from Chennai right here.
1. ‘Modi Is No Vajpayee, DMK Won’t Ally With BJP’: Stalin
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi harped on about the successful coalition formed by the late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee two decades ago and said the BJP was open to an alliance with “old friends” in Tamil Nadu, DMK president MK Stalin on Friday said Modi was no Vajpayee. He reiterated that the DMK will never align with the BJP.
Slamming Modi’s comments on Thursday to his party cadre in a video conference that the BJP’s doors were open to old friends and that the BJP has always followed the path shown by Vajpayee, Stalin said “Modi is no Vajpayee and the alliance formed by them in the Centre is not a healthy one like the alliance formed under the late Vajpayee”.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Chennai Only Metro City Not in Clean Air Plan
Chennai is the only major metropolitan city in the country that has been excluded from National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan launched on Thursday. From Tamil Nadu, Thoothukudi makes the list of 102 non-attainment cities, which are considered to be most polluted with respect to ambient air. Other important metros like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Kolkata and Hyderabad are all among the non-attainment cities.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
3. Plastic Manufacturers Can Breathe Easy, Thanks to HC
The Madras High Court on Thursday restrained government officials from harassing businessmen dealing with plastic products other than those that are on the list of banned ‘use and throw’ products. The court ordered that their businesses should not be disturbed as long as they operate in tune with the government order issued on June 25 and a clarification issued on 18 December banning select products from 1 January.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. Toxic Threat to Chennai’s Groundwater
While on the one hand, government and enterprises are working together to reduce pollution – be it through plastic ban or PCB crackdown against polluting units in North Chennai – on the other, cost concerns seem to outweigh environmental safety norms. A cluster of tanneries based in Pallavaram are working to lay a 13.5 km-long underground pipeline to transport treated effluents to the Perungudi Sewage Treatment Plant.
Why? Because the Zero Liquid Discharge system – that they are required to use – “costs a lot to maintain” and encounters “technical glitches”. The pipeline project, pegged to cost about 40 crore – has received a No Objection Certificate from the TNPCB. Construction is likely to begin in April. While industrialists have welcomed the move, ecologists are worried about the potential damage it can cause to water bodies and groundwater.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
5. CM Inaugurates Slew of Welfare Schemes
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday inaugurated a slew of welfare schemes through video conference from the Secretariat. The schemes included those to be implemented by the Municipal Administration Department, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department and the Rural Development Department. Palaniswami inaugurated drinking water schemes catering to various parts of the State at a total cost of Rs 169.72 crore. While a scheme costing Rs 70.50 crore was inaugurated for the Dindigul Corporation, six such schemes for Kancheepuram, Ramanathapuram, Thanjavur and Theni were inaugurated at a cost of Rs 79.13 crore, an official release stated.
(Source: The Hindu)
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