TN This Week: Protests Against Chennai’s New Airport Complete One Year

At least nine people were burnt to death and 10 others injured when an explosion ripped through a firecracker godown in Krishnagiri on Saturday morning.

The Tamil Nadu Police have booked over 36 men after they allegedly forced a Dalit man from the Adi Dravidar community to prostrate in front of them. The relatives of Anbarasan had burst crackers and walked through the street where the members of the dominant caste live to reach Anbarasan’s residence.

A 19-year-old youth belonging to the Arunthathiyar community, falling under the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, was reportedly hacked to death last Sunday. Even as the family of the youth alleges ‘honour killing’ executed by the family of the girl he was in love with – belonging to a dominant caste – the police have refuted the allegations. Read more

Except for the statues and portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Tamil philosopher Thiruvalluvar, no other personality can be displayed inside the court premises in Tamil Nadu, a circular from the Madras High Court said after it rejected a request to install B R Ambedkar’s statue inside the court.

Residents, who were removed from their houses for the construction of apartments under the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) staged a protest demanding allotment of houses in Trichy on Monday.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday flagged off a six-month-long ‘padayatra’ of the BJP Tamil Nadu State president K Annamalai at the temple town Rameswaram.

Ahead of his ‘padayatra', Annamalai on Wednesday set off yet another debate on alleged corruption in the state by submitting a box full of complaints to Governor R N Ravi. 

Automobile drivers, construction labourers, tailors, roadside vendors, domestic workers and other unorganised sector workers staged demonstrations across Tamil Nadu on July 25 demanding rectification of mishaps in the state labour and welfare board. Read more

Tamil Nadu witnessed a series of protests condemning the wave of violence in Manipur, the parading of naked women, and alleged gangrapes of two Kuki women in Manipur. Read more

The conference ‘Against the attacks on states’ rights’ held by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)) in Madurai last Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of intensifying the attacks on the principles of federalism, plurality, and the idea of India. Read more

NewsClick brings you a round-up of the happenings in the past week in Tamil Nadu.

A YEAR OF ‘NO’ TO THE AIRPORT

The relentless agitation by villagers of Parandur against the move to build the second airport for Chennai on their agricultural lands entered the 365th day on Tuesday.

The Tamil Nadu government has continued to sidestep the year-long protests which included sit-in protests, marches, and multiple resolutions against the project by residents. The protesters vowed to continue their resistance till the authorities changed the location of the greenfield facility.

It came as a shock for the people in 13 villages when the Centre cleared Parandur as the site for the new airport, as this would entail them losing 4,750 acres of agricultural land.

DROUGHT IN SIX DISTRICTS

The Tamil Nadu government declared six districts as drought-affected. The districts where the crop damage is more than 33% due to rainfall shortage are declared as moderately agriculture drought-affected blocks by the state agriculture department.

Tamil Nadu appealed to the Cauvery Water Management Authority to direct the Karnataka government to release the state’s volume of water from the Cauvery River. This follows the Kuruvai farmers petitioning the government following shortage of water from the Mettur dam due to the reduced flow of water from Cauvery into Tamil Nadu.

Karnataka would release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu despite deficit rains after keeping in mind its own drinking water needs, said Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday.

PROTESTS AGAINST MINE EXPANSION

Tension prevailed at Neyveli as Pattali Makkal Katchi leader Anbumani Ramadoss, who along with the party's rank and file protested the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) expansion, was arrested by the police on Friday. NLC India Limited, a central public sector enterprise, has begun the work towards taking possession of the lands they had acquired for mine expansion work.

The CPI(M) and other regional parties have condemned the state government for using force against villagers and PMK cadres protesting against the NLC at Neyveli.