VELLORE: He roads are empty, as if the city has been shut down. Mercury hovers around 40 degrees and scorching sun taunts riders with highway mirages. The Palar river, not surprisingly, is bone dry. Every time an election comes, politicians coming from elsewhere to Vellore, or those representing the people here rake up the “indiscriminate and illegal plunder of sand” from the river.
Yet, Palar remains dry. Voters, mostly farmers, seethe with anger when asked about the slow death of a river that was once their lifeline. Illegal sand mining is just one aspect of a multi-dimensional problem. There are several others, which have rendered the river useless.
One of the biggest problems is the Andhra Pradesh government, which has constructed several check dams across the river, blocking the flow of water, further, to its lower riparian neighbour. The other is industries, mostly tanneries, that discharge their effluent into the river and other waterbodies in the surrounding.
The damage that sand mining, rampant pollution and unmindful construction of dams has caused to the river is likely to have an impact on the electoral outcome in the Vellore constituency. This, because several areas in the constituency still don’t get regular supply of potable water under combined supply schemes.
It’s, hence, not surprising that several candidates have made Palar the central theme of their rallies. The two key candidates in this segment are AIADMK’s alliance partner AC Shanmugam and DMK’s DM Kathir Anandh. Shanmugam has represented Vellore in Lok Sabha, in 1984.
Shanmugam, founder of Puthiya Neethi Katchi, came second in the election last time. This year, however, he began his ground work months ago. Experts feel his chances may be better this time as he is seeking the mandate on AIADMK’s ‘two leaves’ symbol.
However, Kathir Anand, son of DMK treasurer and Vellore strongman Durai Murugan, is a strong challenger. The DMK poll managers are banking on the consolidation of the Vanniyar and minority votes to work in their favour. However, the seizure of huge amounts of cash allegedly belonging to the DMK camp, is likely to have dented the party’s image in the recent days.
Some experts say AMMK’s K Pandurangan could turn the battle for Vellore into a three-cornered contest. The constituency has a mix of different communities, with Mudaliyars and Vanniyars being the dominant groups. About 20 per cent of the population is likely to be Dalits and 15%Muslims.