Declare Tamil Nadu floods as national disaster, says CPI(ML)

Coimbatore: The CPI(ML) on Friday demanded that the Centre should declare Tamil Nadu a national disaster and calamity-hit state and announce a relief package of Rs 10,000 crore immediately. Expressing solidarity with the people of the rain-ravaged state, CPI(ML) Politburo member Swapan Mukherjee said that this was more of a disaster due to systemic failure and acts of omissions and commissions of the government. The callous attitude and criminal negligence of the successive governments, which had allegedly allowed indiscriminate and illegal sand mining, and allowing the real estate mafia to encroach, had led to this huge human tragedy, he said at a press conference. [caption id=“attachment_2533554” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  An Indian child swims through a waterlogged subway during heavy rains. AP[/caption] Coming down heavily on the AIADMK Government led by J Jayalalithaa, Mukherjee alleged that it had failed to provide the necessary basic infrastructure such as storm water drains, de-silting and deepening of water bodies to ensure flow and storage of water despite tall announcements under rule 110 in Tamil Nadu Assembly. He said that the Centre should declare Tamil Nadu a national disaster and calamity-hit state and announce a relief package of Rs 10,000 crore immediately. With a can of water sold at Rs 200 and milk packet for Rs 150, the government should wake up from its “slumber” and launch relief, rehabilitation and infrastructure building on a war footing, Mukherjee said. The party and its labour wing AICCTU will file an appeal against the double life imprisonment awarded by a court here to its eight workers in the murder case of a vice-president of Pricol, Mukherjee said. Pricol workers, in the wake of judgement, have decided to seek justice not only in the Courts of law, but also in the peoples’ court, pointing out the facts that the judgement was completely against the evidence on record and that it was based on assumptions and conjectures, he said. Considering the Pricol and Maruti struggles and criminal cases, there was the need for a law for recognition of majority trade unions to uphold the collective bargaining rights of the workers, Mukherjee said. PTI