CPIM cadres hurt in lathicharge by Tamil Nadu Police

Seven CPI(M) workers including Tiruvottiyur municipal chairman R. Jayaraman were injured when the police lathicharged them after they staged a roadblock on Tiruvottiyur High Road to demand that roads be relaid in the municipality. The CPI(M) cadres led by north Chennai district secretary T.K. Shanmugham blocked the road near Ajax bus terminus and shouted slogans demanding that the government relay the damaged roads in the three wards of western Tiruvottiyur.

The police said the road block let to traffic sna rls on TH Road Wednesday morning. When the police tried to forcibly arrest the protesters, a quarrel broke out between them following which police lathicharged the CPI(M) men. Several CPI(M) cadres including Mr. Jayaraman were injured in the lathicharge. The municpal chairman was admitted to a private hospital. All the arrested were released in the evening.

Mr. Jayaraman told reporters that the roads in wards 41,42 and 43 had not been relaid for the past 15 years. “Even after the completion of the underground drainage system, the municipality was prevented from relaying the roads citing a pending drinking water project.” he said. The municipal chairman said the drinking water project would take at least five years to complete. “People in the three wards are severely affected by the decision,” he said. He also pointed out that no funds were allocated for Tiruvottiyur in the Rs.1,000 crore provided by the state government for relaying of damaged roads across the state.

CPI(M) state secretary G. Ramakrishnan condemned the police lathicharge of his party men. He demanded that the government take immediate steps to relay the roads.

(Photos : Gavaskar Theekathir)

CPIM warns Himachal government of bowing to big builders

The Himachal Pradesh state secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has forewarned the BJP government of the state to not to bow down to the interests of the big builder companies and accordingly frame policies to suit their interests. The CPIM has stated, the efforts on the part of the government to lift the ban on construction in the 17 green zones/ belts of Shimla town points to the vested interests at large. The CPIM has stated, it is intriguing to note that the government that boasts of carbon credits is actually allowing the entry of big construction giants in the green belt to suit the interests of big builders and ruining the green cover. The CPIM will unequivocally oppose the unlimited lifting of ban on construction activities in the green belt which de-facto would imply not houses for the people of Shimla town but resorts/ bungalows for the rich and powerful groups.

The CPIM has asked the government to take a pragmatic look at the trees in these green belts. These should not be cut for the activity of construction . But, the CPIM has stated, the art and science of silvi-culture should be adopted , where the mother tree should be removed for the younger ones to grow or else the mother tree becomes a threat to the people as it loses its base and falls on houses, roads etc. The CPIM has reiterated that the lifting of ban under the garb of development will not be allowed as it will severely affect the ecology of the Shimla hills.