OPS blames DMK for death of six students in Tiruppur

Former chief minister and AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam on Monday blamed the DMK government for the recent death of six students who drowned in Amaravathi river at Dharapuram. 

In a statement, the AIADMK leader said that the incident happened a week ago when a group of eight youngsters from Iduvai in Tirupur district were returning home after visiting Mamparai temple in Dindigul district. On the way back home the students identified as Mohan, Ranjit, Sreedhar, Chakravarmani, Amirthakrishnan and Yuvan, took bath in the river. Last year during the monsoon the river bed was flat enabling the public to bathe in the river, but after the regime change, the unchecked illegal sand mining had made the river bed dangerous for those who bathe.

According to local residents, sand mining in the particular stretch had deepened the shallow part of the river by about 20 feet. The youngsters were unaware of this danger, OPS said. The death of young school going students is a huge shock for the families and it happened due to the official apathy of allowing illegal sand mining and then not placing boards warning danger.

"The minister consoled the bereaving families and visited the two youngsters at the hospital assuring financial assistance and relief. It had been more than a week since the incident and no relief provided to the victims till now.

Chief Minister M K Stalin should order a fair investigation and book those responsible for illegal sand mining that endangers public safety. At the same time the state should compensate Rs 25 lakh for each bereaving family and provide a government job for each family,"  the statement said.

It may be noted that five of the dead were school students while the sixth one was studying in a college.