THOOTHUKUDI
Descendants of martyr Veerapandia Kattabomman submitted a petition to Collector K. Senthil Raj on Monday with an appeal to stop “unlawful” constructions being made by an individual at Veerapandia Kattabomman fort and Veera Sakka Devi Temple in Panchalankurichi.
In the petition, the descendants of the martyr, led by Veema Raja, Indhumathi, Ravindran and Muthukumar, said the new constructions were being made by an individual inside Veera Sakka Devi Temple without getting permission from the Department of Archaeology. When the construction of a commercial complex was started by him, the Department of Archaeology stopped it since it was done illegally. However, it was yet to be removed.
When the cleaning of bushes was taken up by him, the walls of the fort suffered damage at a few spots. “Since he is keeping the rear entrance of the fort and the temple entrance opened even after 7 p.m. with the help of a few government officials, unlawful activities are taking place in the fort and inside the temple. Hence, the government should take action to stop the illegal activities,” said Ms. Indhumathi.
She also charged that more than ₹50 lakh had been mobilised from the public in the guise of renovating the temple.
Farmers’ woes
Carrying paddy sheaves on his head, agriculturist Paramasivam of Kasilingapuram in Srivaikundam taluk submitted apetition to Dr. Senthil Raj with an appeal to instruct the officials to purchase the harvested paddy.
Mr. Paramasivan said that he had harvested 350 bags of paddy, had enrolled his name in the paddy procurement portal of Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation one-and-a-half months ago for selling the paddy in the direct purchase centre at Manakkarai. Similarly, a good number of farmers from Kasilingapuram had stocked over 3,000 bags of harvested paddy and were waiting for a positive reply from the officials for selling it.
“The officials, who have purchased only one-fourth of the harvested paddy, are refusing to buy it through the DPC. Hence, to highlight our demand of immediate purchase of paddy, I have come to the Collectorate carrying paddy sheaves,” Mr. Paramasivan said.
Villagers from Therkku Veerapandiapuram, Kalloorani and Meelavittaan submitted petitions to the Collector appealing to him to ensure early reopening of the sealed Sterlite Copper unit. The villagers said that both the skilled and unskilled youth, who were employed by the copper manufacturing unit, had been rendered jobless after it was closed down in May 2018.
“After the closure of Sterlite Copper, all development activities funded by the factory management have come to a halt. Now, the unemployed youth have to go somewhere else to find a livelihood. So, the Collector should recommend to the State government to reopen the copper unit at the earliest,” said Saranya, one of the petitioners.
