Anbumani wants free travel for men to promote public transport

CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss has urged the state government to provide free bus travel to men similar to women to increase the usage of public transportation.

After participating in Climate Justice and Gender Equality organized by Pasumai Thayagam in a city college, on Wednesday, Anbumani said that agriculture has been affected due to climate change and rice prices have been increased owing to this. "Presently the city has only 3,500 buses. The number of buses should be increased to 8,000. Free travel should be provided for men in Chennai and then should be extended to other parts. Around 4,000 persons die in Chennai every year due to pollution, " he told reporters.

While speaking among the students, Anbumani urged them to create awareness on climate change and make the government pass laws pertaining to climate change. "Chennai suffers every year during the rains and people lose their belongings in floods. These are due to climate change. In 40-50 years, the sea will come close to Stella Maris College. Pasumai Thayagam has been speaking about climate change for 28 years. But there is no improvement. We will continue to speak, " he said.

He warned the students that it is the time to wake up as the world is moving towards severe drought and high intensity cyclones, which will attack frequently.

Earlier, Anbumani clarified that AIADMK leader C Ve Shanmugam met PMK founder S Ramadoss, on Monday, only to invite him to his family function and not to talk about politics. "We are discussing the alliance. We will disclose our decision in a few days, " he said.

With the Lok Sabha election approaching, a meeting between CV Shanmugam and Ramadoss paved the way for speculation that the leaders talked about alliance and seat sharing.