Tag: Tiruvallur

Tamil Nadu: Another School Student Found Dead; Fourth Such Case in 2 Weeks

In the present case, the police refused to comment until an investigation into the incident is complete, saying, however, that no suicide note was recovered from the scene.

New Delhi: A class 11 girl student was found dead in her home in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district on Tuesday, July 26, suspected to have died by suicide in the fourth such case in the state within a span of two weeks.

Three class 12 students in the state were found dead prior to the current case; one in the state’s Cuddalore district on July 26 itself, another a day prior in a school near Kilacheri in the Tiruvallur district, and the first on July 13 in a school near Chinnasalem in the Kallakurichi district.

While the victims are suspected to have died by suicide in all four instances, the parents of the victim of the Kallakurichi case alleged wrongdoing on the part of the school authorities and a legal case is currently underway.

In the present case, a police officer told NDTV that authorities will desist from making any comment until the investigation is complete, but did mention that no suicide note was recovered from the girl’s home, where she was found dead.

The officer also told the news outlet that the victim often suffered from acute stomach pain.

Kallakurichi case

The first in this recent string of tragedies in the state took place on July 13 when a 17-year-old Class 12 student in Kaniyamoor Sakthi Matriculation School was found dead on the hostel premises.

School authorities had suspected death by suicide, however, on the basis of certain facts in the case – a suicide note reportedly discovered by the police which alleged “torture” at the hands of two teachers; alleged injury scars revealed in the initial autopsy which were thought to have occurred before her death; and even her mother’s claims that there were bloodstains a considerable distance from where her body was thought to be discovered – the victim’s family questioned the school’s narrative and moved court, seeking a repeat autopsy.

The Madras high court granted the family’s request, giving a month’s time for the report from the repeat autopsy to be filed. Justice N. Sathish Kumar, hearing the case, also ordered that all future cases involving the death of a student in an educational institute shall be transferred to the Crime Branch – Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) for investigation.

Also read: TN Student Death: SC Refuses Stay on Madras HC Order for Repeat Autopsy

Five arrests were made after the recovery of the note, which included the principal of the school and two teachers.

Further, the Kallakurichi case had seen large-scale protests, led by the victim’s family members. On July 17, the fourth day of the protests, thousands of protesters arrived at the spot and engaged in violence – lighting buses, including a police bus, ablaze; pelting stones at police personnel; and destroying original documents of thousands of students of the school.

Several police personnel were reportedly injured in the melee.

Justice Kumar had, in his order, also sought action against the violent protesters, ordering the constitution of a special investigation team (SIT) of the police to investigate supposed planned action to collect protesters and to identify them and bring them to account.

Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin had, in the wake of the protests, called the incident “deplorable” and tweeted that the culprits would be punished.

Tiruvallur case

The second such incident took place on July 25 when a student was found dead in her hostel room at the Sacred Heart school in Tiruvallur, a government-aided senior secondary school for girls.

No suicide note was recovered in the case, however, the parents of the victim protested and blocked a road near their home village, reportedly because school authorities had failed to provide them with adequate details about their daughter’s death.

Heavy police presence had been deployed both outside the school in Tiruvallur as well as in the victim’s home village in Tiruttani to avoid large-scale protests, as seen in the previous instance.

The girl’s body was sent for an autopsy on June 26, under heavy police supervision.

Cuddalore case

A day after the Tiruvallur incident, another class 12 student was found dead, this time in her home in Cuddalore.

The police also reported finding a four-page suicide note in the home in which the victim described academic pressures on her to clear the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) entrance test, as well as her recent poor performance in a Tamil test in school and an alleged scolding from her mother.

Also read: Why Student Suicide Is Such A Sensitive Subject

Further, her parents reportedly tried to perform her last rites when they found her body, without informing the police. However, police eventually arrived at the scene and an investigation is underway. 

Chief minister Stalin had made mention of the recent spate in suspected suicides while addressing an event at the Guru Nanak college on July 26, saying that students  should have “strong minds” and “shun thoughts of suicide”.

If you know someone – friend or family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation maintains a list of telephone numbers they can call to speak in confidence. Icall, a counselling service run by TISS, has maintained a crowdsourced list of therapists across the country. You could also take them to the nearest hospital.

The featured image is an illustration by Pariplab Chakraborty. To view more such illustrations, click here.

Tamil Nadu: Woman Dalit Panchayat Chief Forced to Sit on Floor, Barred From Flag Hoisting

The alleged disgraceful event came to light after a photograph of the panchayat chief S. Rajeswari sitting on the floor at a meeting and others on chairs went viral on social media.

Cuddalore: A woman Dalit panchayat president in the district was allegedly humiliated by the vice president, who did not allow her to sit on a chair at meetings or hoist the national flag, drawing widespread condemnation from political parties.

Police are on the lookout for the vice president Mohan Raj, while suspended panchayat secretary Sinduja and a ward member R. Sugumar have been arrested, a senior police official told PTI, adding the latter has been held for offences including intimidation.

The alleged disgraceful event that led to an outrage came to light after a photograph of S. Rajeswari, president of Therku Thittai village under Mel Buvanagiri Panchayat Union sitting on the floor at a meeting and others on chairs went viral on the social media, prompting authorities to swing into action.

Condemning discrimination, many social media users expressed outrage and sought swift action to ensure justice.

District collector Chandra Sekhar Sakhamuri and police superintendent M. Sree Abhinav went to the village, located near the temple town of Chidambaram and held an enquiry on Saturday.

The police officer said Rajeswari named the panchayat vice president and secretary in her complaint and a case has been registered against the duo under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act for offences, including humiliation and for obstructing her official work.

“We will take a statement from her, investigate and appropriate action will be taken,” Abhinav told reporters.

To a question, he said there would be no threat to her life, adding adequate police personnel have been deployed in the village.

Also read: The Anti-Caste Film in English Is a Genre in the Making

“Other ward members too have realised what has gone wrong,” he said.

The collector said four meetings have been held in the panchayat office so far.

The panchayat president Rajeswari was forced to sit on the floor while some ward members claimed that she did so voluntarily, the collector said.

“The inquiry is going on, based on her complaint. Strict action as per law will be taken against those involved,” he said, adding the photograph was clicked on July 17, 2020, according to the date displayed on that image.

A show-cause notice has been issued to Mohan under the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act’s provision, governing removal of the vice president and appropriate action would be taken, he said.

Rajeswari, when asked why she had not complained earlier, said she initially tolerated the vice president’s behaviour but decided to lodge a complaint now when his ill-treatment intensified.

Only the vice president hoisted the national flag and she was not allowed to do so (during Independence Day and other events of significance), she alleged.

Fisheries minister D. Jayakumar said it was ‘barbaric’ and promised tough action as per law.

The AIADMK government had all along given due respect and recognition for the marginalised people, including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, he said.

MDMK general secretary Vaiko said such humiliation was outrageous, while DMK MP Kanimozhi said it was strongly condemnable and the leaders demanded tough action.

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) chief Thol Thirumavalavan demanded the immediate arrest of those involved for obstructing the official work of the panchayat president.

Not only Theruku Thittai, but the scenario was also the same in several other villages, the VCK leader alleged and urged the government to review the situation and take appropriate remedial action.

Meanwhile, cadres of VCK and Left outfits gathered in front of the Bhuvanagiri police station in the district, demanding the arrest of the vice president and secretary.

The incident comes months after a woman Dalit panchayat president in Tiruvallur district was not allowed to unfurl the national flag on Independence Day.

She did so later following the intervention of district authorities.

Who is to Blame for the Tamil Nadu Water Crisis?

With permissions being granted for more and more houses to come up in Chennai by the day, the city’s water needs have been increasing without any checks.

One and half years ago, I was travelling with a friend through the Pallavaram-Pallikaranai Radial road. Just as we crossed the Pallavaram Lake, we saw large amounts of water gushing out into the lake’s drain canals. We were surprised and got off our vehicle to find out where the water was coming from. It turned out that the water was flowing out from a barricaded construction site. As we peeped in, we could see that huge motors had been engaged in pumping out the water from the grounds into these channels.

Today, a high-rise building can be seen standing on the site. Located just next to the lake and close to the Pallikaranai marshlands, the ground water table of the site was very high. As workers dug the ground for the project, they could probably see water at the surface level itself. This, ostensibly, did not allow either the digging or the construction work to continue. Hence, they had to pump all the water out to proceed with the construction. Today, this very high rise building has not been spared in the water crisis.

The city’s water needs have been increasing without any checks. Meanwhile, thanks to the Greater Chennai project, many parts of Kanchipuram district and Tiruvallur district are now part of greater Chennai. We see hundreds of advertisements of new residential projects coming up in various localities, all claiming to be Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) approved even though many of them are within the limits of Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur revenue districts.

Over 3,000 tanks

Kanchipuram is historically known as a land of eris – tanks. The Central Ground Water Board under the Ministry of Water Resources identified 1,942 tanks in Kanchipuram district as on 2007. Tiruvallur district, also adjacent to Chennai, had 1,895 identified tanks, as on 2007.  The statistical handbook released by Kanchipuram district authorities in January 2019, notes that the number of tanks in the district remains at 1,942. However, many of these tanks have visibly turned into little more than dump yards for municipal waste. Many have been encroached upon with constructions. Others have been left unmaintained.

Also read: Low-Income Neighbourhoods Are More Vulnerable to Heatwave Spells

After the 2015 Chennai floods, many tanks were restored thanks to the strict measures taken by the then collector of Kanchipuram district, R. Gajalakshmi. Despite the encroachments and dumping, these tanks still have been a great way of preserving ground water. With a combined total of 3,837 (1,942 + 1,895) tanks around Chennai city and whatever remains of the Pallikaranai marsh within the city, the question as to why Chennai is still facing a water crisis begs to be asked.

Whenever there is a water crisis, people talk a lot about saving water, rainwater harvesting, desilting and maintaining water bodies. But the larger picture is never discussed.

Residents fill their vessels with potable water from a hand pump at Marina beach, in Chennai on June 20. Photo: PTI

Residents fill their vessels with potable water from a hand pump at Marina beach, in Chennai on June 20. Photo: PTI

Failed solutions

Chennai’s water crisis is not new and has been holding it ransom for nearly 50 years. The Palar river has been the oldest source of water for Chennai. Water from the Palar anicut is diverted to the Poondi reservoir and the Chembarambakkam lake, both of which act as major water supply points to Chennai. But with low rainfall on the Palar basin and with the expansion of Chennai city, resulting in an increase in its water needs, an agreement had been entered into in 1977 between Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to supply water of the Krishna river to Chennai.

This project was named the Telugu Ganga Project and was also known as the Krishna water supply project. Even before that, in 1967, a proposal to bring water all the way from Veeranam Lake, situated 235 km away from Chennai, had been proposed. But corruption and mishandling led to its eventual scraping.

In 2004, then Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalitha revived it with fresh infrastructural support. But with Veeranam Lake running dry most of the year, the steps have come to nought. The fate of the Telugu Ganga project, which is bolstered infrastructurally but has little practical use, is the same.

The water tables in sub-urban localities are still higher than in Chennai city. However, households in those localities too have been compelled to buy water. This is because many water supply companies have set up units there. They have dug very deep bore wells and have been using the water drawn with abandon. This has let the water table go lower than the level from which the borewells of individual households can draw water. A friend who lives in Madambakkam, on the outskirts of Chennai, she buys water from a supplier in the same locality for Rs 4,000 a month. The amount does not include drinking water.

An abundance of approvals

In the city, the corporation is the major supplier of water to government schools, offices and slums. But private residential apartments or people who have influence have replaced them on the priority list.

City planning does not only mean laying roads, constructing bridges and providing transport. It should understand the resources available and plan expansion accordingly. 

In the five months from January to May 2019, the CMDA has given its approval to 65 layouts. In January alone, the CMDA approved 13 layouts with a total area of 99,206 square metres, divided into 526 plots. Forget about apartments, if just small, individual houses are built into these plots, there will be 526 more households. 

Water consumption per day per person will amount to at least:

  • Two litres of drinking water (if it is water purified through reverse osmosis, then it will be at least six litres)
  • A litre for cooking
  • 10 litres for bathing
  • Five litres for washing clothes
  • 24 litres for the toilet (a standard toilet flush uses six litres each time. Assuming an individual uses the toilet a minimum of four times a day, total water flushed is 24 litres)

Assuming a household has an average of four members, each will consume 168 litres a day. The total number of 526 households will use 88,368 litres a day and 26,51,040 litres a month.

This is only for the approvals given in a single month and also assuming each plot is going to be inhabited by only one household and not built as an apartment.

This also does not include water needed for construction, which is a huge volume by itself.

If the CMDA continues to give approval at this rate, how can we not expect a water crisis? 

Also read: Why All Eyes Are on the Indian Monsoon

The idea in the real estate market is that the field has not been faring well for the past two years. Times of India had reported in January 2018 that the Chennai residential market had enough inventory to sell over the next 18 months.

By December 2018, Economic Times had reported that there was a huge fall in the sales of residential units. Yet with so many units yet unsold, the CMDA continues to give approval to newer ones.

Migration and industry

Further, the problem of migration has to be understood and addressed in a long-run perspective. During festivals, all Chennai roads are visibly empty as a large part of the city’s population are migrants who have their roots elsewhere. More and more people migrate from within Tamil Nadu and from other states to Chennai. Chennai natives, meanwhile, complain of having been uprooted and placed on the outskirts, in areas like Kannagi Nagar, Chemmancheri and Perumbakkam. 

The government should also take a policy decision to not to approve any more industries or business enterprises in the city. Concentrating industrial development in the city has made living in it a disaster. 

The United Nations General Assembly on July 28, 2010, recognised that the human right to water entitles everyone to “sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.” This right has not been explicitly protected in the Constitution of India, though the courts have interpreted the right to life to include safe and sufficient water.

Today, however, governments leave it to individuals to solve the water crisis, which has led to fragmented solutions and made water available only to those who can afford it.

We must understand that water crisis is not just about water but that it is a socio-economic, political and environmental issue.

Poonkuzhali is a writer and activist based in Chennai.

As TN Govt Blitzes New Expressway Plan, Farmers See Pervasive Irregularities

“They tried to dupe us by getting ‘no objection’ letters from farmers who couldn’t write or read.”

Farmers in Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu, are protesting a new six-lane greenfield expressway that they say is being pushed through with complete disregard for their consent as well as the proper procedures.

Christened NH 716B, it is only the latest of many highway projects rolled out in Tamil Nadu under the Bharatmala Pariyojona scheme.

The 126.5-km-long road will intersect Pulikundram reserve forest in the Red Hills range of Tiruvallur district. As a result, at least 32 hectares of forest land will have to be cleared so that the road can go up to the Kamarajar and Kattupalli ports.

Around 885.5 hectares of land – 525 hectares in Andhra Pradesh and 360.5 hectares in Tamil Nadu – is set to be acquired for the project. A major portion – 64% – has been identified as agriculture, and the remainder as ‘barren’ (12%) and reserve forest (10%).

Farmers from 26 villages that lie along the project’s sites have since formed the Tiruvallur District Farmers and Labourers Coordination Committee (TDFLCC) to coordinate their response. The committee surveyed the sites and found that though the proposed highway requires 900 acres of land, it would spell doom for around 20,000 acres of agricultural lands because the expressway will cut across many bore-wells and irrigation systems.

Also read: Fast-Tracked TN Road Plan That Stalled Older, Green-Lit Project Smells of Cronyism

The farmers learnt about the land acquisition itself only when the government of Tamil Nadu took out an advertisement in local newspapers on October 31, 2018, detailing the patta numbers to be acquired.

Then, in January 2019, officials demarcated tracts of land for the project without the farmers’ consent or knowledge. After this, the residents of seven villages registered their objections with the gram sabha and the district collector.

In February, they were called for a public hearing and according to them were made to wait for over five hours before Karuppaiah, the special district revenue officer (DRO), showed up. They said he told the farmers verbally that they had no other options other than to agree to the acquisition, and refused to listen to their responses. When they grew angry, the villagers said police personnel were brought on scene to disperse them.

When other government officials showed up a few days later to survey the lands, the villagers resisted their attempts to erect marking stones and uprooted them.

“Every acre yields about 40 to 50 bags of rice,” a farmer who stands to lose two acres of his four said. “We provide affordable vegetables and rice for the population of Chennai. Can the government compensate us for the rest of our lives?”

He and others fear the elevated and barricaded nature of the road will also hinder the movement of people, cattle, agricultural goods. Improper planning – as has been the norm – will also render the tracts of land flanking it susceptible to floods.

“They tried to dupe us by getting ‘no objection’ letters from farmers who couldn’t write or read,” Sasikumar, a 39-year-old farmer from Kakkavakkam and a convener of the TDFLCC, said. He alleged that the DRO had instructed his colleagues to appear to help the farmers even as they prepared the letters to seem as if the farmers had consented to the project. “When I noticed this, I snatched away all the forms and alerted the villagers.”

When contacted, Karuppaiah vehemently denied the allegations and insisted that he had simply forwarded their objection to the higher authorities. He refused to comment further because he had since been transferred to another department.

The villagers organised a meeting in late March to discuss ways to bring the issue to the chief minister’s attention. Edappadi Palanisamy was scheduled to address a gathering in the district. However, police personnel banned any slogans or display of placards at the campaign rally. So the villagers could only submit a petition.

In 2018, the Adani Group had bagged a deal to develop the Bhavanapadu port in Andhra Pradesh. The same year, it acquired a 97% stake in the Kattuppalli port for Rs 1,950 crore.

Devendra Reddy, a 68-year-old farmer also from Kakkavakkam who stands to lose all his three acres, alleged that”the government’s rush to construct these roads” is a sign that it is working “hand in glove with Adani ports.

“Our lives don’t matter to the government. We are easy targets to deepen their pockets.”

Also read: Meet Tamil Nadu’s Eight-Lane Expressway to Environmental Hell

At first, the expert appraisal committee (EAC) of the Union environment ministry stated that the project presentation did not cover all the aspects to be examined. It also held that proper alternatives hadn’t been worked out because the project is set to pass over many water tanks as well as through a big chunk of forest. Finally, it said that the two points the road intended to connect – on the Chennai-Bangalore expressway and the Chennai peripheral road – didn’t currently exist.

However, the EAC soon pulled a volte face, after the amount of forest land to be cleared was reduced from 32.14 ha to 4.9 ha and the number of water bodies disturbed along the proposed alignment was reduced from 27 to 21. It is not clear how or why this happened because it is not clear how the project can avoid cutting through the forest.

But “at present there is no change in the alignment,” said G. Athipathi, the project director. “The road is not cutting through the reserve forest, it will only be abetting the reserve forest. We are still working it out with the forest department.”

There is no assessment report on the impact the 126.5-km road, and its construction, will have on the water bodies even as its length itself remains unchanged in the larger plan. And, it seems, irrespective of how the plan will be revised henceforth, land acquisition has begun.

Daniel Walter is a freelance writer and anthropologist based in Chennai.

Tiruvallur Village’s Women Fight to Keep Liquor Shops Out

They think it is difficult to keep their men from drinking. At the same time, they don’t think the shops should be banned, only that they should be moved away.

They think it is difficult to keep their men from drinking. At the same time, they don’t think the shops should be banned, only that they should be moved away.

The protesting women of Vengal. Credit: G. Rajaram

The protesting women of Vengal. Credit: G. Rajaram

Vengal, Tiruvallur: Only 60 km from the bustle of Chennai, Vengal bears no semblance of urbanisation. The sleepy, tiny hamlet houses about 6,000 people – most of them Dalits and most of them still living in huts flanking mud roads. On a particularly hot day, a handful of women are sitting under a neem tree, as they always are after busy mornings. But this time their small talk is about a serious issue that threatens to disrupt the harmony of their village.

The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) set up two liquor shops close to the village’s centre on June 3. The women fear that this will fuel a ruckus. “Only after two buildings were constructed did we realise they have been built to house TASMAC shops,” says Deepa, a resident. “To have a TASMAC shop in our midst is definitely a problem. Imagine having two. These shops should be built at the outskirts.”

Nagarani, a middle-aged woman who earns her livelihood by collecting twigs, says life has become more difficult since the shops were opened. “Men drink there, sit in front of shops and pass lewd comments at women passing by. It is not easy for us any longer collect twigs.”

Many feel the TASMAC shops in the midst of their neighbourhood have made regular drunkards of many men. “When it was in the outskirts, men used to visit only during weekends,” Nagarani says. “Now they have started drinking every day” – often in the morning as well. “The other day, we caught a boy studying in class VI drinking. I am really worried for my son.”

They think it is difficult to keep their men from drinking. At the same time, they don’t think the shops should be banned, only that they should be moved away.

Why? For one, the women feel a TASMAC in their neighbourhood is an intrusion of their privacy. For example, only 30% of the village’s houses have toilets, so many women have to walk a couple of kilometres in the mornings and evenings to answer nature’s call. “If there is a TASMAC shop on the way, how would I feel confident enough to walk down the street?” asks Deepa.

The consensus is that the shops were moved into the village from the outskirts after the Supreme Court banned liquor shops along highways. So for over a week since, the women knocked at every government official’s door they could to have the shops moved away from their houses. “From politicians to officials, we were meeting everyone. But all our attempts were stonewalled,” according to Deepa and Nagarani.

It was then that they decided to take the law into their hands. Over the last week, as soon as the shops (located next to each other) would open at 12 pm, 10-15 women would gather outside in a crowd and force them to close. “It has been paying off,” says Shyla, whose house is right next door. “We have forced them to close the shops. This happens every day but we are not tired.”

P. Santharaj, a native of Vengal who now works in Chennai at a software company, has been helping the women with their anti-TASMAC campaign. According to him, the villagers who have “taken licences to run bars” have been trying to resist this opposition. “Sometimes they give free drinks to some men and ask them to silence ‘their’ women. Sometimes they threaten the women with dire consequences. But our women have not been cowed down by anything.”

Almost all men this reporter met refused to speak. The few that did echoed Santharaj’s views: that the shops should be taken to Vengal’s outskirts. The licensors could not be contacted for comment.

For the women, it is a fight against a menace that doesn’t only threaten Vengal’s peace but also their sisterhood. “From taking toilet trips to collecting twigs, we go in groups. That is the time we unwind, after finishing up all the household chores. It is a menace to our men, yes, but it is a menace to our women, too” says a wary Deepa.

What would you do if they somehow resisted all attempts and open the TASMAC shops, I ask them; after all, they are fighting against an establishment. After a long pause, Shyla says, “We will have to just continue this fight. These TASMAC shops will destroy the fabric of our village. We never want that to happen.”

Dharshini Ramanaa is a student of journalism interested in human rights issues.