Mugilan demands CM’s resignation

On a day when Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami visited Madurai and Virudhunagar, Cauvery River Protection Movement coordinator R S Mugilan on Friday urged him to step down from his post owning up moral responsibility for the murder of Special Branch constable Jagadish Durai.

Mugilan, who contributed to the movement to protect the Cauvery, was arrested on September 18 and has been lodged in the Palayamkottai Prison, has gone on a hunger stir condemning the CM’s visit.

Mugilan, in his letter, demanded that the CM should be held accountable for the plundering of river sand which belongs to the state. The issue falls under the Public Works Department, a portfolio that Palaniswami holds. “It has ultimately led to the murder of the Nanguneri policeman,” he said. He charged that the rivers are being split among the office bearers of the AIADMK ranging from Panchayat union secretaries and the ladder that goes up to the state’s Cabinet. “This illegal sand mining is prevalent in all districts,” he added.

The communique from Mugilan stressed that action should be initiated at all levels in places where illegal sand mining is happening. It said the respective officials from Revenue, Police department and PWD in those areas should be relieved from their posts and their property nationalised.

On the permission to open new sand quarries, Mugilan insisted that the state should not approve opening of such quarries and allow the sale of sand imported from foreign countries.

Mugilan also demanded that the state permanently close the Sterlite Copper Smelter plant in Thoothukudi besides denying permission to its proposed expansion and drop all foisted cases against activists spearheading the agitation against the plant.

In April, Mugilan had written a letter to the government urging the state to take a firm stand on the formation of the Cauvery Management Board.