A Canadian woman, originally from Chennai has filed a complaint against a relative of hers who had sexually abused her as a child in an attempt to break the silence around dealing with paedophiles.

“I am 52 now and I still find it difficult to talk about it… how do you expect 10 and 11-year-olds to go to the police and talk about being sexually abused. I just wanted to let paedophiles know they are no longer protected by our silence. The only way to start turning the tide is to break the silence. If you shine the light on it, it can’t hide anymore,” she told The Hindu.

The incidents of abuse happened when she was around 10 years old and lived in various homes in Anna Nagar and Shenoy Nagar. They apparently stopped when she told the man to stop.

After she watched a TV show in Canada and then started reading about it, she realized he was doing something wrong. In her 20s, I tried to lodge a complaint in India through her brother, but that did not work since there were no laws pertaining to sexual abuse in the country as of then. 

For a while, she kept information about being abused to herself but when a niece was about to move to India with her family, she was afraid she too may have to face such a situation and then informed her family.

Her brother tried to reach him and at first, he denied having done anything. But when he persisted, the man confessed to what he had done. However, he said he had done it out of love for her. His wife told her she had forgiven him, but for her, it was never forgotten. 

Since her family knew about his acts, they ensured that she did not meet him anywhere. In 2013, she decided it was time something was done about the matter and took it to the Canadian police. Though a file was created since, the perpetrator was not in Canada and when the incidents happened, she was not in Canada, nothing could be done.

“I was advised to mail the report made by the Canadian police to the police in India. I mailed it in March and I didn’t expect to hear back from them. But I did. I met a senior police who assured action,” she said.

True freedom is economic freedom and the Tamil Nadu government is taking various measures towards that, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said on Monday.

Unfurling the national flag at Fort St. George here on Independence Day, Jayalalithaa said: "This day we salute those who fought for the country's freedom. Freedom does not mean just the right to speak, write... True freedom rests in economic freedom."

Listing out various measures implemented by her government in education and health, Jayalalithaa also announced an increase in pension payments to freedom fighters and to their families.

Jayalalithaa said her government was taking steps for the welfare of farmers and Tamil Nadu had registered a record food grain production of around 130,000 tonnes.
 

Farmers in ten villages in the Lower Bhavani project ayacut area on Monday hoisted black flags protesting non-release of water from the reservoir for irrigation.

Water from Lower Bhavani Project reservoir is the lifeline of farmers in Erode district and it irrigates more than 2.50 lakh acres of land.

As per schedule water would be allowed from the reservoir for wet crops for four months from August 15 and dry crops for another four months from December 15.

But this year despite farmers' request no announcement over release of water for old ayacut lands of Lower Bhavani project has been made by the government, farmers said.

Farmers in ten villages, including Pasuvapatty, Uppiliyapalayam and Ottavalasu, hoisted black lags protesting against this.

LBP farmers have already announced that they will resort to a major agitation on August 23 demanding release of water in LBP canal.

Panic gripped Valparai and Kundadam in nearby Tirupur District, after villagers spotted leopards in the area, police said on Monday.

Estate workers in Valparai, coming under Anamalai Tiger Reserve noticed three leopards crossing a rivulet and entering the estate on Saturday evening, police said.

However, some anti-poaching squad members managed to chase away the carnivores into the jungles, even as the workers remained apprehensive.

Forest department officials claimed that leopards might have entered the human habitat to hunt dogs and other pets, and cautioned workers against venturing out late in the evening.

Similarly, villagers in Kundadam in Tirupur District also suspected the movement of leopard, as a goat was dragged and killed by some unknown animal, police said.

Forest department officials confirmed the presence of leopard, after finding pug marks,even as steps are being taken to prevent the animal straying into human habitat from upper forest area, they said.

Thick smoke emanating from a garbage dump yard on Coimbatore’s outskirts, after a fire broke out there, caused severe breathing problems to people living in the vicinity, for some two hours on Monday, police said.

Fire at the yard erupted around 1.30 PM and the smoke billowing enveloped the nearby households, choking residents, they said, adding, the cause of the fire was not known.

On receiving information, 10 fire tenders reached the spot and put out the fire after a two hour battle, they said.

Though the fire was brought under control, the smoke was causing breathing problems to residents in the locality, they added.

Corporation Commissioner Vijay Karthikeyan visited the spot along with senior officials.

Five months after the Madras High Court instructed police to invoke the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act in a case of rape of a mentally challenged 21-year-old woman, the Chennai police have still not done so.

The case comes up for hearing before a women's court on Wednesday.

According to The Hindu, on March 17, HC judge P N Prakash instructed the New Washermenpet police to slap the POCSO Act on the 28-year-old accused, after NGO Nakshatra approached the court with a medical certificate from the Institute of Mental Health suggesting that the victim had “severe level of mental retardation.“

The women's court, however, asked the woman to undergo a medical examination again at the Institute of Mental Health to re-ascertain her IQ level. Police investigation found the woman was mentally challenged.

At the age of five, the woman was admitted to an orphanage by her aunt. Her father passed away 13 years ago, and soon after, her mother abandoned her.

On May 26, 2015, the victim was visiting her aunt on Seniyamman Koil Street, VOC Nagar when Pradeep, 28, a neighbour raped her on the terrace of his house. Based on her aunt’s complaint, police arrested Pradeep, who later came out on bail.

NGO Nakshatra in its petition seeking invocation of POCSO, produced a clinical psychologist's report which said that the girl had undergone two tests to ascertain her mental maturity. In one of the tests, her mental age was found to be four years, and her IQ 25.

“We have registered a case under IPC Section 376 (rape) and have not included any section from Women Harassment (Prevention) Act or Pocso Act as the victim is not a minor,“ inspector of police Ramesh Babu said to TOI. “We conducted an inquiry in an impartial manner. All the mandatory provisions have been complied with during the investigation.” 

Bar Council of India has stayed its July 24 order suspending 126 Tamil Nadu lawyers, including leaders of various bar associations, in view of the temporary withdrawal of their three month-long protest over recent amendments to the disciplinary rules under the Advocates Act.

Staying the suspension till August 22, the BCI directed the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTP) to file a report with regard to attendance of lawyers in the courts across the state, BCTP sources in Chennai said on Tuesday.

BCI had suspended the 126 lawyers and prohibited them from practising in any court or tribunal in the country on the eve the move by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of various bar associations to stage a sit-in at the Madras High Court here, High Court bench in Madurai and subordinate courts on July 25, protesting the amended rules to Advocates Act.

Those suspended included JAC Chief Co-Ordinator P Thirumalairajan, its member M Velmurugan, Madras High Court Advocates Association Secretary Arivazhagan, Women Lawyers Association President Nalini and Egmore Bar Association President Chandan Babu.

Undeterred by the action, the lawyers, who have been on a warpath over the amended rules which among others provide for disciplinary action against erring lawyers, went ahead with their protest and several of them had courted arrest on July 25.

However, at a meeting of the JAC held in Erode on August 14, the lawyers decided to temporarily withdraw all forms of agitations, including boycott of courts, and attend courts from today.

In the backdrop of this, BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has stayed the suspension till August 22.

The lawyers are opposing a notification issued by the Madras High Court in May last making amendments to existing rules under the Advocates Act with a view to ensure peaceful conduct of court proceedings and suggesting disciplinary action to be taken against erring advocates.

The court later constituted a judges committee to look into the grievances of the lawyers and repeatedly urged the lawyers to give up their agitation and approach the panel.

It had also made it clear that practically the rules were already in abeyance for the time being in view of a Full Court's assurance that no action would be taken under the rules till they were reviewed.

A schoolboy from Coimbatore committed suicide on Monday night by consuming a poisonous cow dung powder, allegedly after being harassed by three English teachers in his school.

Babu, the deceased boy, was studying in Class 9 at the Kamalnathan higher secondary school. He also wrote a suicide letter blaming his three teachers for his suicide.

“My brother committed suicide because he was being harassed by these three teachers for the last one-and-a-half months. He used to speak in English and other students in his class did not like it. So they used to make false complaints to the teacher, and he used to be beaten up,” alleged Manikandan, Babu’s elder brother.

According to Manikandan, Babu’s mother had also complained to the head master of the school about a month ago. However, Manikandan claims that the school did not take any action against those teachers, which led Babu to commit suicide. “After my mother complained to the school, he used to be beaten up more in the class”, alleged Manikandan.

An FIR was registered against the teachers and the school at the Vadavalli police station on Monday. The family wants strict action to be taken against the three teachers, the school and the head master.

 A 52-year-old factory worker sustained serious injuries after he was allegedly attacked by a bear near in Udhagamandalam on Tuesday, police said.

The incident occurred when Varadharajan was heading to his workplace in Ellanahalli, and two bears pursued him, police said.

As the worker took to his heels, one of the bears chased and attacked him, inflicting serious injuries on his hand, thighs and abdomen, police said.

The animal then ran into a nearby bush, after the villagers reached the spot and made noise.

Varadharajan was immediately rushed to the government hospital in Udhagamandalam, from where he was referred to government hospital in Coimbatore.

A National Commission for Women (NCW) team on Tuesday visited the Isha Yoga Centre in Coimbatore to confirm the veracity of letters sent to it by two women sanyasins stating that they were staying in the centre on their own volition and not forcibly as alleged by their parents.

NCW member Sushma Sahu met Mathi and Maayu and recorded their version about the contents of the letters, Isha sources said.

Sahu left the city for Delhi in the afternoon, police said.

The two women had written to the commission stating that they were staying there on their own volition and nobody had forced them, Isha sources claimed.

The mother of the women, who were known as Geetha and Latha before taking sanyas, had moved a habes corpus petition in the Madras High Court alleging that her daughters had been brainwashed and forced to stay at the yoga centre.

However, local principal district judge and superintendent of police who went to the Centre and recorded the statements of the two women last week on the directions of the high court informed the court that they were staying on their own volition.

Actor Vishal has landed in another controversy. In an interview with a leading Tamil magazine, when asked about the Producers’ Council and its members, he said that the council had not taken good measures against piracy or tackled the problem of satellite rights.

He said that the Producers’ Council needed unselfish members who would solve issues with an open mind, according to The New Indian Express.

Following the statement, the Producers’ Council called for an immediate meeting. Producer Suresh Kamatchi told TNIE, “Vishal has to apologize for what he said. How can he say that if we have issues related to payments etc. we organize meetings with snacks on the table? Also why would he say that every producer was unhappy with the Council’s office bearers? Of late, he has been giving interviews in a way that stirs problems.”

Kamatchi also said that earlier Vishal had complained about the Nadigar Sangam and taken over it, does Vishal want to do the same with the Producers’ Council, he asked.

The Producers’ Council claimed that he was trying to do this for attention. At the Producer’s meeting, Kalaipuli Thanu said that no producers have earned profits working with Vishal and he should not have said something like this. He also added that he should be educated on how to talk to people.

However, Vishal has been trying to eliminate piracy and has also been asking people in the industry to work towards it.

The Jallikattu issue has come to the fore again. On a recent visit to Tamil Nadu, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi said she is against the demand to repeal the ban on Jallikattu, while Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan disagreed with her.

Maneka Gandhi claimed that even though a majority of the people in the State supported the revival of Jallikattu, it was a dangerous sport. She said that only the views of the Supreme Court matter on this issue.

However, Pon Radhakrishnan said that he was not in agreement with Maneka Gandhi on the issue. He said that there were many other dangerous sports that were being played and the Centre will see if it can allow the sport to be played in the Pongal festival.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Tamilisai Soundarajan stated that the views made by Maneka Gandhi were her personal views as an animal rights activist. She claimed that BJP was united on the Jallikattu issue, and they have the support of the central government on it, according to The New Indian Express.

BJP leader H Raja also made a similar statement. He claimed that Jallikattu was one of the ways to protect bull varieties and the Centre will bring amendments for the same, which cannot be overridden by the Supreme Court.

How many defamation cases has the Jayalalithaa government slapped on the media and opposition? The answer to the question has been provided by the TN government in a reply filed to the Supreme Court.

The Tamil Nadu government has told the apex court that a total of 213 defamation cases was filed from 2011-2016 when the AIADMK was in power.

Of the 213 cases, 55 were filed against the media.

Twenty-eight cases were filed against DMDK leader Vijayakant in the last five years,

A total of 48 cases were filed against DMDK, which includes 28 cases against the party leader Vijayakant himself.

Arch rivals DMK have the maximum number of defamation cases filed, with a total of 85 cases filed between May 2011 and July 2016.

A total of nine case were filed against PMK and 7 against the Indian National Congress.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy is on the list too with five cases filed against him for his tweets against Jayalalithaa.

The TN government’s reply to the Supreme Court comes after Vijayakanth approached court to stay proceedings on a criminal defamation complaint filed against him by the Dharmapuri Public Prosecutor. Vijayakant had criticized Jayalalithaa at a public welfare meeting in October 2015 at Dharmapuri.

In July 2016, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and C. Nagappan while asking for the list of defamation cases, had admonished Jayalalithaa and said, “"For any criticism like corruption in the government or that one is unfit to run the government, you can't slap defamation cases."

The use of defamation as political tool is highly prevalent in Tamil Nadu. During her previous term (2002- 2006), the Jayalalithaa government filed almost 120 criminal defamation cases against the media. The DMK, often at the receiving end of these cases, then filed more than 40 defamation cases against the media during its tenure (2006-2011).

The first case filed by the current Jayalalithaa regime during her previous tenure was against The Hindu and Tamil magazine Nakkeeran in January 2012. This was for an article that termed the chief minister a ˜beef-eater”. Nakkeeran had first carried the article, and The Hindu had published a translation.

In the last five years, not just the Chief Minister, but other ministers too have filed defamation cases. In February 2016, revenue minister R.B Udayakumar filed a complaint against The Economic Times for the article, “TN response to flood was slow, says central report”.

From 2012 to 2016, several cases were filed against opposition leaders for their disparaging comments on Jayalalithaa or her government and against the media for reporting the same.

DMDK leader Vijayakanth, DMK leader MK Stalin and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss all faced defamation cases over statements criticising the government’s handling of the December 2015 floods in Chennai.

A case was filed against the Times of India for carrying a statement by Stalin; another against The Hindu for publishing an interview with Vijayakanth in which he alleged that the Chief Minister was retreating to her bungalow in Kodanadu, Ooty to take rest.

The government has also sued those who reported on political speculation. In August 2012, the Tamil edition of India Today had a defamation case filed against it for carrying a story on the cabinet reshuffle and for speculating how a minister was allegedly shunted out on Jayalalithaa aide Sasikala’s insistence.   Tamil bi-weekly Junior Vikatan has been sued multiple times for interviews with people claiming to be Jayalalithaa’s daughter, sister, etc.

Two cases were also filed against news anchors on TV channels for reading out lines against the government.

In September 2014, multiple cases were filed against BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for his tweets alluding that Sasikala had personal interests in ensuring that boats seized by Sri Lankan navy were not released. He had also tweeted that the TN government had given permission to hold a memorial meeting for LTTE's Thilappan in the state.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court by an NGO ‘Common Cause’ and environmental activist SP Udayakumar, who had spearheaded the Kudankulam protests in 2011, seeking the court’s intervention to address the misuse of the sedition laws by successive governments.

Speaking to The News Minute, S P Udayakumar, who has been charged with sedition said, “The successive governments are using the sedition case as a joke and they cannot file sedition case for trivial things. In our case, my friends and I have 20 sedition cases for protesting against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. This is completely unacceptable.”

Speaking about the recent case against Amnesty International, he said, “Now, governments are using it, as a weapon to silence dissent and opposition, the recent example being the Amnesty International.”

Asked about what outcome they are expecting from the case, he said, “We want the Supreme Court to take a clear stand on what is sedition and what is not. Speaking against the government or an institution is not sedition, sedition is when you undermine the national interest and blatant activity against people that involves violence. Just speaking your mind and making a statement cannot be seditious.”

The petition filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan on behalf of Common Cause and Udaykumar also appealed to the court to issue an order making it compulsory for the DGP, or the Police Commissioner to certify that the “seditious act” either lead to the incitement of violence or had the intention to create public disorder before any FIR is filed or any arrest is made.

The petitioners also prayed that the apex court would issue “an appropriate writ directing for a review of pending cases of sedition in various courts to produce an order from the DG or commissioner of police” certifying the seditious act. The petitioners also prayed that where such an order isn’t provided, the court would direct the prosecution to drop such cases of sedition.  

The petition notes that over the years a number of people, including writer Arundhati Roy, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, cartoonist Aseem Trivedi and JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar among others have been slapped with sedition charges by the government and law agencies to “scuttle dissent, suppress freedom of speech and expression and to muzzle the voices of those critical of the ruling government.”  

In what is a reminder of the acrimony between the Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu, Opposition Leader MK Stalin was forcibly carried out by marshals from the state Assembly.   

This came after all 89 MLAs belonging to the DMK, the main opposition in Tamil Nadu were suspended for a week by the Speaker of the Assembly, P Dhanpal after they created a ruckus in the House.

The DMK MLAs objected to a remark by an AIADMK MLA Gunasekaran, who made a snide remark about Stalin’s “Namakku Naame” campaign. He reportedly said, “A person who roamed Tamil Nadu in the name of 'we for ourselves' was unable to get a majority in Tamil Nadu.” DMK MLAs promptly asked to expunge these remarks from the register of the Assembly proceeding. 

TN Finance Minister O Panneerselvam moved a motion in the assembly to suspend the DMK MLAs.

Stalin told reporters outside the  Assembly that it  was a "pre-planned conspiracy" against the DMK. 

P Dhanapal, Speaker of the Tamil Nadu assembly earlier evicted the MLAs commenting that Stalin was no longer in control of his own MLAs. After Stalin said he was prepared to apologise, Dhanapal said his apology would indicate that he could not handle his own MLAs. 

Speaking to reporters, AIADMK MLA Karunas said,"DMK keeps talking about its own achievements and its "Namakku Naame" campaign and doesn't allow anything constructive to be debated in assembly. They also make fun of the Speaker's words frequently."

At 4am on July 2nd, 48-year-old Munnusamy was crossing the road to begin his day as a load carrier. While entering the arterial OMR road, he was suddenly hit by a speeding Audi car at a U-Turn and flung into the air on impact. The driver of the car did not stop until municipal sweepers intervened and stopped the car.  

Within 10 minutes, three young women, inebriated and returning from a party, stepped out of the car. Aishwarya Wilton, the daughter of insurance surveyor Wilton Rulans, was arrested on charges of murder. 

Aishwarya Wilton

Munnusamy’s wife and two children Divya and Karthik who had rushed to the spot watched on as the women could barely stand, balancing themselves on the bonnet of the car.. Aside the car, they watched Munnusamy’s mangled body being swiftly covered up before any photographs could be taken.

Also read: Chennai Audi drunken driving: ‘He was dead, all she said was sorry’, says victim’s family

This is the story of a family barely making ends meet in their one room home, and falling victim to an incident of negligent drunken driving. Munuswammy and his wife Govindamma's son Karthik is in the 11th standard, and her daughter is in the 6th standard. Having lost the breadwinner in the family, funds for their children's education were running dry. 

Govindamma, Munnusamy's wife

On hearing their story, The News Minute started a campaign to raise money for the family on Ketto, an online fundraising platform run by Varun Gupta and Kunal Kapoor.  The campaign has managed to raise Rs. 4,50,000 in over a month, all thanks to its 238 contributors. Some even donated Rs.100 in a bid to help the family in any way they could. The highest contribution  of Rs.50,000, was received from an anonymous donor. A sum of Rs.4,07,331 was deposited in a joint account in the name of Govindamma and her son Karthik.

Speaking to TNM, Govindamma said she was extremely grateful and showered thanks for the funds. She was elated that she could put it to good use for her children’s education – especially her son’s, who wants to study to become a collector. "Thanks to all those people who helped. I cannot tell you how much this will help my family. I will thank all of you all the time in my prayers," she said.

The breakup of the deductions are as follows: Ketto Fee + Payment gateway fees + Service tax

Meanwhile, Aishwarya is out on conditional bail.

The body of a 17-year-old boy who fell into a 70-feet deep well in Coimbatore and drowned, while reportedly taking a 'selfie' on his mobile phone, was today recovered after two days, police said.

The boy fell into the well on the forenoon of Monday while he was taking a selfie standing on its edge, police said.

Despite search by Fire and Rescue services department personnel, the body was untraceable till last night and assistance of a team of scuba divers from Tuticorin was sought to bring up the body.

The seven member-team got down into the well, armed with oxygen cylinders and also eye-vision camera, around 7 am and brought up the body around 7.30 am.

The body was sent to the Government Hospital for post-mortem, police said.

The man who had claimed to have murdered Sadiq Batcha, a close aide of former Telecom Minister A Raja and important witness in the 2G case, has gone missing before CBI could question him.

The agency was planning to question 24-year-old K Prabhakaran, who had claimed in a press conference on May 17 that he had killed Batcha in 2011 and named a senior IPS officer and a relative of Batcha as partners in crime.

Prabhakaran had claimed Batcha was murdered after he gave CBI "vital information" that went against Raja, the main accused in the 2G case.

Since his press conference, despite best efforts of CBI, Prabhakaran could not be traced.

The agency has now launched a manhunt to trace him as his claims could change the nature of the 2G spectrum allocation scam case. The death case of Batcha might be changed to that of murder. And important persons may be named in the case.

Agency sources said local police were not cooperating in the probe and some officers have even gone to the extent of describing Prabhakaran as mentally unstable.

The sources said his family has also claimed that they do not know the whereabouts of Prabhakaran.

Batcha was found hanging under mysterious circumstances in 2011.

He was questioned repeatedly by CBI as the agency suspected him to be the person whose company was used to route alleged bribes of 2G scam.

The agency had used the services of forensic experts from the AIIMS to detect whether Batcha was killed but even after detailed examination, it did not find anything which can substantiate the murder hypothesis, the CBI sources said.

Batcha had left a suicide note stating that he was "embarrassed" by the raids of various enforcement agencies and the extensive media coverage. The agency had concluded that the suicide note was written by Batcha himself. 

The Madras High court on Wednesday directed the investigating officer of the Crime Branch to produce by August 18 all documents relating to the probe on film producer Madhan, who was reported missing in May after an alleged failed business transaction with SRM group.

"Why the Crime Branch in Tamil Nadu is unable to track down film producer Madhan, inspite of a lapse of 70 days since they were handed over the case?" asked a division bench comprising Justices S Nagamuthu and V Bharathidasan while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Madhan s mother Thangam.

The court asked the investigating officer appointed by the court to handle the case, as to why two persons related to the case had not yet been called for questioning.

Thangam had submitted that her son had gone missing since May 28 and there was foulplay in his disappearance.

The court directed the investigating officer to produce all the records relating to the case by tomorrow.

Madhan of Vendhar Movies was reported 'missing' since May 28, when he left Chennai leaving behind a 'suicide note' stating that he would kill himself in Varanasi.

He had allegedly acknowledged having collected several crore of rupees from parents and students aspiring for MBBS seats in SRM groups of institutions.

Earlier, R C Paul Kanagaraj, appearing for 16 parents/students, submitted that they had paid several lakhs each for a medical seat in the SRM college/university.

They first met one Pachamuthu, who asked them to pay the money to Madhan, said Kanagaraj, holding the university administration responsible for the money paid.

Now, admission has closed and even classes have started, he said, adding that these parents and many more like them had got neither the money nor MBBS seat.

On July 28, the Crime Branch had informed the high court that Madhan is very much alive.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police S Radhakrishnan, who is investigating the case, had told the court that the materials collected prima facie revealed that he was very much alive.

Radhakrishnan had filed a status report in the court on two cases entrusted to him for investigation.

While one was the missing case pertaining to Madhan, the other was regarding cases filed against him and others for allegedly collecting money with false promise to get medical admissions in a leading private medical college.

On June 6, Madhan's mother had filed the habeas corpus petition seeking a direction to Virugambakkam police to produce her son before the court.

While the debate persists on whether the city is flood ready, a report on the Chennai floods by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs was tabled in the Lok Sabha and presented to the Rajya Sabha on August 12. The committee's 31-page report was based on inputs by the Water Resources ministry, the Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Detailing the damage, the role of various concerned agencies and the observations made, the report points out that the predominant reasons for the flood were illegal encroachment and faulty town planning.

According to the report, encroachments played a big part by reducing the carrying capacity of the lakes in Chennai and adjoining districts. This was particularly evident in the cases of Cooum, Adyar and Kosasthalayar rivers which run dry through urban areas and have a discharging capacity of just a few hundred cusecs. The overflowing of these riverines was predictably caused by further minimizing the carrying capacity by encroaching on them, the report observed. 
 
How did these riverines overflow? The report points to the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, which released water from reservoirs that were overflowing due to torrential rainfall.  This in turn discharged water into the Kosasthalayar, Adyar and other riverine systems. The rivers overflowed their respective banks on either side at many places and had therefore inundated the low lying adjoining areas. 

Ordering strict action against illegal encroachments, the committee report directed the State Government to tackle the growing mafia involved in illegal construction and clear flood channels and riverbeds where these stand. While the State Government has vowed to remove 11 unauthorized constructions, the committee observed that was an inadequate measure. 

For the report, the Tamil Nadu government had submitted that there were 117 encroachments over a length of 500 m across the Vayalur river in Kancheepuram District, of which 41 were removed. In the banks of the Adyar River, 4046 houses were identified as encroachments over a length of 839 m in the river bank although no action had been taken yet. 

Holding the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and Chennai Municipal Corporation responsible, the report observed that no assessment of the floods had been done. Having been the agencies in charge of layout plans and monitoring encroachments in the city, negligence on the part of the Corporation was noted. 

Another observation made was the faulty drainage system that badly needed desilting and was choked as a result. The committee recommended that regular maintenance of the drainage system should ideally be of topmost priority "however daunting the task may be". 

In the concluding paragraph of the report, here is the exact statement of Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi while deposing before the Committee.

“So, basically there can be no preparation for a disaster that occurs once in hundred years, because the cost of preparing for the disaster would be disproportionately high.”