CHENNAI: Cuddalore is set to witness a two-pronged battle between PMK’s R Govindasamy and DMK’s TRVS Sriramesh, at the end of which, its electorate hopes, is the answer to its environmental and infrastructure problems.While Sriramesh, a cashew exporter, is new to the fray, Govindasamy, a doctor, had contested in Virudhachalam opposite DMDK chief Vijayakant in the 2006 Assembly elections, losing by a margin of 13,777 votes.
Earlier in 2001, he had thwarted opposition from the DMK to secure the Virudhachalam seat. The AMMK has fielded Kasi Thangavel in the constituency, their second choice after the nomination of KR Karthik was rejected due to alleged discrepancies in witness details.The relative familiarity enjoyed by Govindasamy has left Sriramesh no choice but to work against the clock to gain lost ground. However, he hopes to ride the anti-incumbency wave that is seen in many regions of the district.
The constituency comprises six Assembly segments- Cuddalore, Thittakudi (Reserved), Virudhachalam, Neyveli, Panruti and Kurinjipadi. Several maize farmers of Thittakudi who practise monocropping are looking to shift to multicropping but are unsure whom to turn to; they are miffed with the agriculture department for not raising awareness. Water scarcity, while it plagues the entire district, is especially prevalent here. Residents blame lack of desilting.
The people of Virudhachalam have been seeking bifurcation of the district because of the distance between the segment and the district headquarters. Residents here are forced to travel around 60km to even attend a grievance meeting at the collectorate. Residents of Neyveli and Kurinjipadi credit the Neyveli Lignite Corporation for atmospheric pollution in the region. Jackfruit and cashew farmers of Panruti, on the other hand, seek encouragement of more small and medium scale industries that can procure their yield and package them for the market.
In disaster-prone Cuddalore, where 49,448 of the total 20,68,523 voters are first-time voters, Dalits make up around 30% of the population.Impact of Centre’s policiesIn its electoral history, from 1951, Cuddalore has largely leaned towards the Congress. For the 16 general elections that the district has faced until then, it has swung between the DMK and Congress- DMK had won four seats while the Congress had swept seven. In 2014, the DMK and Congress were not part of the same alliance, resulting in division of votes and an AIADMK victory.
In 2004, Congress ally DMK won by a margin of over 1.3 lakh votes and DMK’s K Venkatapathy took office as MP. He was also given a berth in the Union Council of Ministers. It was during Venkatapathy’s time as MP, in 2007, that the Congress-led UPA identified Cuddalore for the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) programme.
Cuddalore was among the 254 backward districts identified from across the country for the programme that aimed to ‘redress regional imbalances in development’ on the basis of the SC/ST population among other criteria. The scheme continued under UPA- 2 and with the Congress’s own S Alagiri as the MP in Cuddalore.
A total of around Rs 80 crore was released under the scheme for rural and urban local bodies of Cuddalore. According to the guidelines for allocation of funds under BRGF, within the overall allocation for the rural local bodies, 20 per cent of the allocation was earmarked for the district panchayat. Out of the remaining 80 per cent, an amount of R 10 lakh was allocated to each of the Panchayat Unions. Out of the balance amount, 50 per cent was allocated based on the total population of each Panchayat Union and the remaining 50 per cent would be allocated based on SC/ST population of each Panchayat Union.
According to data from the district administration accessed by Express, in 2007-2008 alone, over 200 works were taken up at the district panchayat and block panchayat levels.However, in 2014, the scheme was dropped as the NDA government took charge at the Centre. In early 2018, it was repackaged into the ‘Aspirational Districts Programme’ targeted at 115 districts in the country. To nobody’s surprise, Cuddalore was dropped from the list that included only Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar from Tamil Nadu. While the selection is said to be made based on 49 indicators including health, education and agriculture resources, it remains a fact that neither the BJP nor its allies had any luck in the district in its 68 year electoral history.
Environmental threats
Untreated discharge and air pollution by a few industries at SIPCOT has mainly affected Pachchyankuppam panchayat, Kudikadu, Sedapalayam and Semmankuppam, each housing around 5 hamlets.Locals in these regions have been calling for regulation of the red category industries in the area. However, while many promises have been made and broken, the situation for the locals has shown no signs of improvement.“We have noticed the quality of our catch coming down substantially. We are fisherfolk ourselves but having been used to the kind of fish we used to catch a few years ago, we are not cooking fish in our houses too often,” said Sathiya P from Rasapet.
In other settlements in the SIPCOT area, people are left to live with putrid smells that have become a part of their lives. This, in turn, has reduced their appetite and causes nausea, residents claim. In areas like Sonaganchavadi, residents claim that the village has been flooding more often because of the industrial buildings. A study by the Central Groundwater Board, in 2018, had revealed that groundwater in five districts including Cuddalore were contaminated.
R Govindasamy, PMK
Govindasamy said that his main focus for the district is to transform the Cuddalore port into a major port and also keep a check of pollution in the SIPCOT area. “As a doctor, I have encountered many cases of asthma and other respiratory disorders among people living in the SIPCOT area. This needs to be looked into,” he said. Flood retaining walls along water bodies as part of disaster management is another area where we will focus
TRVS Sriramesh, DMK
Sriramesh said that he would reopen the industries closed due to various reasons. “Pollution is everywhere but industries are important to create job opportunities. Industries will be opened only after consultation with officials from the pollution control board.” He aims to create 2.5 lakh employment opportunities in the constituency after assessing vacancies in various sectors. He will also look into port expansion
(With inputs from Nirupa Sampath)