Coimbatore : A group of tribals from Anaikatti sprung up today at the Collectorate to submit a petition demanding that the TASMAC outlet at Jambukandi on the busy Anaikatti-Thadagam Road should remain open. The tribals were allegedly paid to sign the petition by the organisers of the protest and hence looked clueless when interrogated by the press.
Coimbatore : A group of tribals from Anaikatti sprung up today at the Collectorate to submit a petition demanding that the TASMAC outlet at Jambukandi on the busy Anaikatti-Thadagam Road should remain open. The tribals were allegedly paid to sign the petition by the organisers of the protest and hence looked clueless when interrogated by the press.
The tribal group which asked for the TASMAC outlet to remain open stated that the protests being staged for shutting down the TASMAC outlet was actually being instigated by the party which reportedly wished to bring liquor from the Thadagam area and sell at a higher price in Anaikatti. They also claimed that the closure of the TASMAC outlet will lead to toddy production. Their point of contention was that people in the region were daily wage workers who needed alcohol to recover from the day's hard labour. The confusion caused by one half of the people in the area supporting the TASMAC outlet with the other half opposing has reportedly caused stress even among organisers of the protest.
After repeated accidents caused by inebriated men who visit the TASMAC outlet operating last week's casualty was a 48-year-old woman from Thadagam who was killed after the scooter she drove was hit by an inebriated man on his motorcycle, on Monday afternoon.
The deceased was identified as R Shobhana from Thadagam road who died from the impact of the collision, in spite of wearing a helmet. Her daughter Shanthala (16), a class XI student of Vidya Vanam at Anaikatti, who was riding pillion on the scooter also suffered injuries and was admitted in the hospital. Shobhana is the wife of R Ramesh, a member of People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy, which was at the forefront of protests against Kudankulam nuclear power plant. Public in the area had blocked the Anaikatti-Thadagam Road, seeking immediate closure of the TASMAC outlet which is reportedly run by the kin of the legislator there.
The protesters squatted on the road refusing to remove the body from the road for over five hours. The Tahsildhar had accepted their demands and assured that the TASMAC outlet will be temporarily shut down and if ordered by the District Collector could also be permanently shut down.