Apparent approval given by the State government to a multinational soft drinks giant for starting a bottling unit at the Perundurai SIPCOT unit seems to have put the Environment Minister Thoppu N.D. Venkatachalam in an unenviable situation. Mr. Venkatachalam, who also represents the Perundurai Assembly segment, has been told in no uncertain terms by organisations and residents’ associations that the MNC’s presence in the industrial town will not be tolerated.
District officials have explained that the water table in the industrial estate will not be disturbed and that the production unit would source its daily water requirement of several lakhs of litres from the government through a drinking water scheme. But the officials have so far desisted from making a public commitment on safe disposal of waste water. Even the Minister is unable to allay the fears of locals that the bottling unit will resort to pumping waste water into the ground.
On the other hand, openly opposing the bottling plant’s entry to his constituency is out of question as it would be tantamount to contradicting the government’s policy. Therein lays his dilemma!
DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin had to do tightrope walking during his visit to Salem on January 23. His main engagement was the marriage of the daughter of ‘Veerapandi’ Raja, son of the late DMK strongman ‘Veerapandi’ S. Arumugam.
Salem is one of the two revenue districts, the other being Erode, in the State, where DMK organisational elections could not be held due to inner-party squabbles. Many raised their eyebrows, when Mr. Raja, in his welcome address, openly criticised a section of the party leaders for spreading rumours about him that he is being sidelined in the party. Mr. Stalin was quick to set the controversy at rest. As expected, he pacified Mr. Raja, stating that ‘Veerapandi’ Arumugam never missed any chance to assert his views with party leader Karunandhi on various issues, but will always abide by the final decision of the party chief.
“Late Arumugam, throughout his life, served as a younger brother of Mr. Karunanidhi, and similarly Mr. Raja should always remain as my younger brother without worrying about anything,” Mr. Stalin said.
There could no dearth of issues as far as social activist “Traffic” Ramasamy is concerned. Minutes after filing his nomination for the Srirangam by-election, he straightaway took on police Commissioner Sailesh Kumar Yadav, stating that he cannot hold office in Tiruchi, some parts of which come under the Srirangam constituency, as he has completed more than three years in office in the city. With Mr. Yadav being transferred, the Ramasamy camp claims credit for it.
Having burnt its fingers once, the DMDK seems to have learnt a big lesson. Unlike in 2013, when it bravely entered the fray in the Delhi elections with 11 candidates, the party has kept silent on the upcoming one. Sources in the party said its disastrous performance last time, when all its candidates together polled just about 2300 votes, has ensured the party would not venture out of Tamil Nadu for some time. What more, party leaders felt that without contesting the Srirangam by-election, fielding a candidate in Delhi would send a wrong signal to people.
R. Krishnamoorthy, Syed Muthahar Saqaf , C. Jaisankar and Sruthisagar Yamunan
