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Fisherfolk, environmentalists demand cancellation of public hearing on Cuddalore port expansion
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Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra said the sole objective of the Uniform Civil Code exercise is to strike a blow at social harmony in the State. | Rajasthan is the fifth BJP-ruled State to initiate action for enactment of UCC.The State government has formed a high-level committee, headed by former Supreme Court Judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, to draft the legislative framework for UCC. The State Cabinet had decided to bring the UCC law and given the go-ahead for appointing the committee at its meeting convened here on June 22.Changes under lawKey changes under the UCC include mandatory registration of marriages and divorces, a complete ban on polygamy, mandatory registration of live-in relationships, and equal rights for both sons and daughters in ancestral property. The BJP government has claimed that it is committed to drafting an “ideal and progressive” law that aligns with the State’s specific needs and social fabric.While the Uttarakhand government enacted a UCC law in February 2024, Gujarat and Assam launched similar initiatives shortly thereafter. Madhya Pradesh has constituted a similar committee for the purpose, while Rajasthan is the fifth to follow suit.The committee is holding public consultations at the division level for ensuring that the draft UCC Bill is “inclusive and transparent”. While the interaction in Jaipur has been scheduled for July 10 and 11, the citizens in the State have also been asked to submit their suggestions directly to the committee through a dedicated web portal.‘Evading accountability’Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra said that no feedback could be provided by the public without knowing what the proposed law contained. “The public hearings are being conducted without a draft because the government wants to evade accountability on fundamental issues,” Mr. Dotasra said.The State Congress chief said the sole objective of the exercise was to strike a blow at social harmony in the State. He asked why the State government was not holding consultations on the real issues such as shortage of drinking water and electricity, rising crimes, pathetic condition of roads, farmers not getting seeds and fertiliser on time, and deaths of pregnant women in hospitals.Other Congress leaders, including Leader of the Opposition Tikaram Jully and Minority Department chairperson M.D. Chopdar, said the complete draft of the UCC Bill should be brought into public domain before starting the consultation process with full transparency.s‘Attention diversion’While Mr. Jully said the BJP government was raising the UCC issue to divert attention from development, law and order and other public concerns, Mr. Chopdar declared that the party workers would protest on the streets if the UCC Bill was passed in the State Assembly. He said the BJP was targeting Muslims after the recent introduction of the anti-conversion law.The UCC implemented in the BJP-ruled States has kept the tribal communities out of its purview, leading to questions about only the tribal autonomy being selectively safeguarded and imposition of regulations on others. After the UCC is enforced, the personal laws in the matters of marriage, divorce, property inheritance, adoption and maintenance will cease to exist. Published - July 09, 2026 12:25 am IST
According to the GBA, the corporations will also conduct public auctions of seized vehicles through the available legal channels. | According to the GBA, the corporations will also conduct public auctions of seized vehicles through the available legal channels. Any vehicle left parked in public spaces for a prolonged period and obstructing pedestrian movement will also be seized.“Vehicles that have been left unattended for several days on roads, open spaces, and other public places will be identified, and action will be initiated,” the GBA said in a statement.Corporation officials will identify abandoned vehicles and first affix an official notice in the form of a sticker, giving owners seven days to remove them. The vehicles will also be fitted with wheel clamps.Owners will have to approach the civic body, inform the authorities about the vehicle, and remove it from the spot. If they fail to do so within seven days of the notice being issued, the vehicles will be towed away and seized by the authorities.All seized vehicles will be disposed of through public auctions in accordance with the prescribed rules. Earlier, a similar exercise was undertaken to auction properties with pending property tax dues. Despite public opposition, the city corporations went ahead with the auction process.The GBA has urged citizens to immediately shift any vehicles they have left on public roads or other public spaces to their own premises to avoid action.The drive to clear abandoned vehicles will be carried out under Section 324 of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, following the directions of Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda. The initiative follows the GBA’s recent footpath clearance drive aimed at improving pedestrian infrastructure across the city.The GBA will also take up a drive to clear construction debris dumped on footpaths and roads on the city’s outskirts. Published - July 08, 2026 09:55 pm IST
Fisherfolk and environmental activists have urged the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board to cancel the public hearing for the proposed Cuddalore port expansion scheduled on July 9, 2026.Environmentalists alleged that the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study for the project appears flawed and overlooks several factual issues that could affect the livelihood of fishermen and the local residents.According to K.S. Gajendran, State secretary of the Tamil Nadu Meenavar Peravai, “The move to expand a private port while Cuddalore still lacks a modern fishing harbour will aggravate existing livelihood issues of fishermen. The proposed port expansion will result in increased vehicular movement, and dredging operations could displace fish stocks, forcing traditional fishers to venture deeper and incur higher costs.”The discharge of effluents from industries in the SIPCOT industrial estate in Cuddalore had already affected marine resources, and that the port expansion would further damage fish breeding grounds and reduce fish stocks. The coastal communities are already facing multiple pressures, and the project should be immediately abandoned to protect livelihood of fisherfolk and the coastal ecosystem.According to a spokesperson of SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitors (SACEM), an environmental watchdog, the port expansion being planned under a 40-year-public-private-partnership agreement with the private operator seeking to enhance the port’s capacity from 5.68 Million Tonnes Per Annum to 11.48 Million Tonnes Per Annum, besides shipbuilding and ship repair facilities.A new shipyard and ship-repair facility has been proposed within Coastal Regulation Zone-III (No Development Zone) and such major infrastructure cannot be permitted without clearances.The SACEM pointed out that the baseline ecological study as insufficient. The entire flora and fauna field survey was conducted only in September 2025, and the EIA itself admits that quantitative assessments of faunal populations were not undertaken.The public hearing scheduled for July 9 should be cancelled. The project should be placed under moratorium until an independent expert committee comprising representatives from Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, the Coastal Zone Management Authority (CZMA), the Department of Fisheries conduct a fresh comprehensive review, SACEM said. Published - July 07, 2026 01:18 pm IST
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