TN This Week: Protests Oppose HC Order Against Cattle-Grazing on Forest Land

An electrical short circuit caused a fire in the ground floor of one of the old blocks of the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai on April 28. The accident created panic among the patients and the hospital authorities; they were evacuated safely.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly on April 29 passed a resolution unanimously urging the Union government to permit the state government to send food, lifesaving drugs and other essential commodities worth Rs 123 crore to people of Sri Lanka, suffering due to the severe economic crisis in the country.

Fresh Covid infections fell marginally in Tamil Nadu as 54 persons tested positive on April 30. However, the active cases surpassed 500 in the State.

Whereas, with a continuous surge in COVID-19 cases at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, the total number of infected people has gone up to 182.

NewsClick brings you a roundup of the happenings this week.

HC ORDER ON CATTLE GRAZING OPPOSED

Hill Farmers gathered at the Collectorate in Theni. Image courtesy: Theekkathir

Members of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam (affiliated to AIKS) held demonstrations across Tamil Nadu urging the State government to stop Forest Department officials from preventing them from grazing in forest land. They urged the government to appeal in the Supreme Court against a High Court order.

Last month the Madras High Court banned cattle grazing in forest areas across Tamil Nadu and directed the state government to prohibit cattle-rearers from taking their cattle for grazing inside forest areas. The court later clarified that the ban would apply only to tiger reserves, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

ELEVEN DEAD IN TEMPLE ACCIDENT

Eight men and three teenage boys were killed and 17 others injured on Wednesday near here due to electrocution when a temple chariot came in contact with a high tension (HT) electricity line during a procession, police said. Read more

POWER TO APPOINT VC GRABBED FROM GUV

As the Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi was chairing a two-day conference of the Vice-Chancellors (VC) of central, state and private universities in the state, the Assembly passed a bill to appoint VCs directly by the government. Read more

Moreover, a Bill was introduced in the Assembly on April 27 to establish a university for Siddha, Ayurveda, Unani, Yoga and Naturopathy and Homeopathy in the State. According to which the Chief Minister of the State will be Chancellor of the university.

TRANSPORT WORKERS HOLD MARCH

Transport workers march in Chennai. Image courtesy: Theekkathir

A rally was held in Chennai on April 25 on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Government Transport Employees' Federation (CITU) demanding the immediate commencement and conclusion of the 14th wage agreement negotiations.

FIRE IN SOUTH CHENNAI LANDFILL

Parts of the 340 acre landfill in Perungudi, located on the outskirts of Chennai, has been ablaze since April 27 afternoon. Heavy smoke has been emanating from the hill of trash causing health hazards to residents.

Members of CPI(M) staged a protest outside the entrance to the landfill on April 29 demanding closure of the dumpyard. Though the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, activists claim the methane inside the landfill is aggravating the flames.

 PROTEST AGAINST IIT-M STUDENT RAPE

AIDWA and TNUEF protest outside IIT-Madras. Image courtesy: AIDWA, Tamil Nadu

The All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) and Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) held a protest outside the IIT-Madras campus on April 28 condemning the attitude of the administration in the sexual harassment case of a Dalit research scholar.

The scholar has accused her fellow scholar of sexually assaulting her repeatedly and also harassing her at work place along with his accomplices including two of her professors for nearly four years after she joined the institution in 2016.