The prohibitory orders clamped under Section 144 of the CrPC in Thoothukudi were lifted on Sunday morning.
Normal life has resumed in the city, where a massive protest rally on May 22 against the Sterlite copper unit turned violent and resulted in police firing. Thirteen people died in the police action.
Commercial establishments have started functioning and bus services are back in full swing. Other vehicular movement is gradually increasing.
Except for a few buses, which are scheduled to ply via the East Coast Road, most of the TNSTC’s fleet are operational. Buses headed to Sayalkudi through Kulathur, Keela Vaipaar and Tharuvaikulam on the ECR remained in the depot.
On Friday night, miscreants hurled a petrol bomb near the entrance of the Kulathur police station and sped away. However, confidence-building measures adopted by the authorities had yielded positive results, officials said. Ahead of the Anti Sterlite Movement’s call for the protest rally, the district administration imposed the prohibitory order from 10 p.m. on May 21 to 8 a.m. on May 23 in areas under the limits of Thoothukudi South and Sipcot police stations to maintain law and order.
Subsequently, the order was extended to the entire Thoothukudi and Tiruchendur taluks and the areas falling under Vembar, Kulathur, Arumugamangalam, Vedanatham, Ottapidaram and Eppothumventran from 1 p.m. on May 23 to 8 a.m. on May 25. Further, the order continued to remain in effect till 8 a.m. on Sunday (May 27), sources said.
Solatium doubled
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has doubled the compensation to be provided to the kin of those who were killed in the police firing in Thoothukudi.
According to an announcement made by the CM on Sunday, the bereaved families would be provided ₹20 lakh (as against the ₹10 lakh announced earlier), while those who suffered serious and minor injuries in the violence would be granted ₹5 lakh and ₹1.5 lakh respectively, as against ₹3 lakh and ₹1 lakh announced earlier.
Mr. Palaniswami said the kin of the victims had requested the visiting IAS officials to raise the amount of compensation. He said the decision to double the compensation was based not only on such requests but also on the representations received from various quarters and the judgment of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court directing the authorities to consider a petitioner’s plea to increase the solatium.
