1. Tamil Nadu Govt Doubles Solatium to Anti-Sterlite Protest Victims
The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday, 27 May, doubled the solatium to families of the 13 people killed in police firing last week during anti-Sterlite plant protests, from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. The solatium for those seriously injured has also been increased to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 3 lakh and for those with minor injuries, to Rs 1.50 lakh from Rs 1 lakh.
An official release quoting Chief Minister K Palaniswami said he issued the orders to increase the solatium (from the earlier amounts announced on 22 May) after considering requests to the government from various sections and to the Commission of Inquiry probing the violence.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Robbers Mug Elderly Women, Escape With Rs 12 Lakh Gold Chains
Chain snatchers on motorcycles made away with five gold chains worth Rs 11.5 lakh from five elderly women in just three hours on Sunday, 27 May, striking with impudence in the heart of the city. The city police said two gangs accounted for the five cases. One pair of robbers struck in Ashok Nagar, Pondy Bazaar, KK Nagar and Valasaravakkam between 7 am and 9 am; two other men on a bike robbed a 75-year-old woman in Anna Nagar West around 7.10 am.
Investigators said the suspects took a total of 49.5 sovereigns (396 grams) of gold. The police, working on witness descriptions and surveillance footage, are searching for the robbers. “It appears that the robbers who struck in four places had a clear plan and had charted out their escape routes,” a senior police officer said. “The rider hid his identity behind a crash helmet and his accomplice covered his face with a handkerchief.”
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Over Two Lakh Take Metro, Thanks to Free Rides
About two lakh thronged the Chennai Metro Rail on the first weekend after the opening of two underground stretches. Sources said the reason for an increase in the number of persons taking Metro Rail was the offer of free rides for three days. “The decision was taken because authorities felt commuters should be allowed to see the newly opened stations. This will certainly motivate people to switch over from other modes of transport to Metro Rail,” an official said.
The stretches from Nehru Park to Chennai Central and Saidapet to AG-DMS were inaugurated on Friday, 25 May. The 2.7-km Nehru Park to Chennai Central stretch has three stations — Nehru Park, Chennai Egmore and Chennai Central — and the 4- km-long Saidapet to AG-DMS has four stations — Saidapet, Nandanam, Teynampet and AG-DMS. While the minimum fare is ₹10, the maximum has been increased to ₹70 with the launch of these two stretches.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. National Green Tribunal Bench Defunct Since January After Lone Member’s Retirement
Even as the police firing at anti-Sterlite protesters in Thoothukudi led to an outrage in the state, the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal in Chennai has remained non-functional from October 2017 due to lack of quorum, environmental activists say. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has so far made no attempt to fill the posts of judicial and expert members.
This apart, the NGT acting chairman on his part has made no alternative arrangements, activists say. Except for the south zone, the tribunals in other zones - Western, Eastern and Central zones- are functioning. Circuit benches were formed, where judicial and expert members came for a short 10 day period and disposed of urgent cases.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
5. Mettur Water Release on June 12 Unlikely
With the storage level continuing to remain poor and no remarkable increase expected in the inflow in the coming days, release of water from the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur for farm activities in the delta districts on the customary date of June 12, is unlikely.
“As of now there is only a remote chance of water being released from the Mettur Dam for the Cauvey basin on June 12, unless the reservoir receives copious inflow during the next fortnight,” Public Works Department sources told. While the water was released from the dam in the month of August for three years (2013, 2014 and 2015), it was released in September twice (2012 and 2016). Last year, water was released on 2 October, after a delay of more than three-and-a-half months.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. Door-to-Door Plan for Trash Collection Remains on Paper
All 200 wards under Greater Chennai Corporation are supposed to be covered by door-to-door conservancy operations as per the civic body’s declaration under the Swachh Bharat Urban project but residents in Kodambakkam, Teynampet, and Adyar zones — where Ramky Enviro Engineers is in charge — claim door-to-door operations are a fiction.
This is despite the corporation earmarking more than Rs 300 crore in its last two budgets for private conservancy operations the three zones. The civic body says its door-to-door collection of garbage covers 100 percent of the city; it source segregates waste in 40 percent of its wards, it maintains.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. 17 Months After Cyclone Vardah, Koot Road Still in the Dark
It’s been a year-and-a-half since Cyclone Vardah ravaged the city and its suburbs by felling trees and electric poles. However, the Medavakkam town panchayat has still not replaced the street lights on the Medavakkam Koot Road along the Nanmangalam forest stretch. This stretch, which connects the Velachery Main Road and the Thoraipakkam-Pallavaram radial road, is infamous for anti-social elements and tipplers, who find cover in the forests nearby.
When we visited the stretch on Sunday, 27 May, it found only three streetlights present at the opposite side of the road. With two of these streetlights facing the wrong side, locals claim it does little to light up the two-km stretch which borders the forest. While a small portion of this stretch falls under the Kovilambakkam town panchayat jurisdiction, the major part comes under the jurisdiction of the Medavakkam town panchayat. Officials from both local bodies offered conflicting reasons for not replacing the streetlights which lined up the forest’s border.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
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