| Date | 18 December 2005 |
|---|---|
| Location | MGR Nagar Chennai |
| Coordinates | 13°2′4″N80°11′49″E / 13.03444°N 80.19694°E |
| Deaths | 42 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 37 |
The 2005 December Chennai stampede incident happened on 18 December 2005 in a school at MGR Nagar in Chennai, the capital of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where the relief supplies were distributed by the state government for the people affected by severe flooding. There were 42 deaths in the accident, which left another 37 injured. The state government appointed a one-man commission under retired justice A. Raman to look into the enquiry. The state government also announced a compensation of ₹100,000 for all the victims and ₹15,000 for the injured.
During 2005, there were heavy rains in Tamil Nadu and its coastal areas were flooded. Many people were rendered homeless by flooding during November and December. Relief measures were announced by the government that necessitated collecting tokens from authorities in different centres across the city.
During 2005, there were heavy rains in Chennai and the surrounding areas that resulted in severe flooding. Most coastal areas of the state were flooded. [1] Many people were rendered homeless by the floods during the months of November and December. Relief measures were announced by the government that necessitated collecting tokens from authorities in different centres across the city. The government centres were distributing ₹ 2,000, 10 kg of rice, dhotis and saris to the people affected by the floods. [2] The relief measures were to be originally distributed from the ration shop in the area, but the street being narrow, the venue was changed to Arignar Anna Government School. On Saturday 17 December 2005, the day before the accident, 3,452 families were issued tokens and the authorities were planning to distribute for 4,5000 families on Sunday. The announcement was made with the help of public addressing system. [3]
On 18 December 2005, Sunday, around 4,500 people were gathered around the Arignar Anna Government High school in MGR Nagar where the tokens to the relief measures were about to be distributed for people under the jurisdiction of three ration shops. [4] The people assembled from 3 a.m., while the relief was planned to be distributed at 9 a.m. There was a sudden downpour at 3:45 a.m., and there were rumours that the relief measures would be given only on first come first basis to 1,000 families. At around 4 a.m, people broke through the cordons set up by police to enter the building. There was a concrete slope at the entrance and people at the front end of the queue slipped and others stumbled over them. The gates were closed with difficulty, but by then the stampede caused 42 deaths and 37 injuries. [1] [4] Eyewitness claimed that the sudden downpour resulted in chaos in the area. The police were few in number to control the large crowd. [2] They also claimed that the police controlling the crowd early during the day would have averted the situation. [3] [4]
The stampede is counted among the twenty deadliest stampedes during the period of 1968–2005. [5] The President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, condoled the death of the people who lost their lives in the tragedy. On account of the poor lighting and rain, the rescue personnel found it difficult to reach the spot. The crowd did not disperse without understanding the seriousness of the situation and only left after an announcement was made that the distribution would be made at their doors. Umbrellas, footwear and ration cards were strewn all over the place. [4] Sixteen of the injured were admitted to the government hospital and eleven, including six women, were admitted to the Royapettah Government Hospital. [6] The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa visited the injured in the hospital. During her interaction with the media after her hospital visit, she said that this might have been the handiwork of some of the miscreants trying to tarnish the image of the government. She stated that "There was no need for people to come in so early during the day when it had been announced that relief distribution would begin from 9 am. We had made elaborate arrangement by restricting the number of relief-seekers to 500 at each of the nine counters and deployed heavy security. It was announced that everyone would get relief,". [3] The Tamil Nadu police said that it was raining heavily during the distribution of relief supplies. The state government also announced a compensation of ₹one lakh for all the victims and ₹ 15,000 for the injured. [1] The leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party Muthuvel Karunanidhi, accused the government of buying votes by distributing freebies for the forthcoming elections. He also added that it was the poor administration of the government that resulted in the tragedy. [2] His son, M. K. Stalin, an MLA from the DMK party, accused the government of not setting up a committee to monitor the relief measures. [3] As a mark of respect to those who died in the accident, the shops in the area closed at 2 p.m. on the day. [7]
The police arrested Dhanasekaran, the areas' councillor who belonged to the opposing DMK party, on 20 December 2005 on charges of spreading rumours. [8] He was charged under IPC sections 120-B for criminal conspiracy, 147 for punishment for rioting, 304 for punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, 109 for abetment, 323 for voluntarily causing hurt and 325 voluntarily causing grievous hurt. [9] [10] It was alleged that he and his supporters roamed around the previous evening announcing that Sunday would be the last day and token distribution would begin by 5 a.m. [10] He argued in a lower court that he was politically targeted and the tragedy was because of an administrative failure. He quoted the transfer of Chennai collector and police officials involved in the case to support his argument. He was granted bail by the court on 26 December. [11] He was charged in Goodas Act before the court could grant bail. He was granted bail by the Madras High Court on 5 January. [12] The government filed a special leave petition against the order in the Supreme Court of India on 27 January 2006, but the court rejected the plea and accused the government of negligence. The court stated that "The incident occurred because of the negligence of your officers. This is not the first time that such an incident has happened in Tamil Nadu. Repeatedly, it is happening in Tamil Nadu for such petty things,". The court also noted that "The incident was because of the officers not making preparations for providing flood relief". [13] M. Karunanidhi, in a statement, claimed that it was a moral victory for the party against the hate campaign run by Jayalalitha and her All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) government. He said "The Supreme Court, which was approached by the same government, has blamed the Jayalalithaa regime for the stampede. The Supreme Court judges after hearing the two sides has said that DMK Councillor Dhanasekharan was not the reason behind the stampede, but only the Tamil Nadu Government,". [14] The state government appointed a one-man commission under retired justice A Raman to enquire the incident. [1] The terms of the commission were notified on 20 December 2013 by the government that instructed the commission to probe the alleged rumours, circumstances leading to the stampede, find any shortcomings of issue of tokens and ways to avoid such incidents in future. [15] Dhanasekaran sought a stay on the proceedings of the commission quoting "Witnesses are being examined at an amazing speed, and about 35 witnesses were examined on a single day. The main aim for constituting the Commission is to divert attention on the inefficient handling of flood relief by the State Government, and to obtain a report that absolves the Government of all liability. The Commission is proceeding at such a speed that it would release a report before the coming Assembly polls on May 8". [16]
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.) at Madurai on 17 October 1972 as a breakaway faction from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after M. Karunanidhi expelled him from the party for demanding an account as the party treasurer. The party is adhering to the policies of socialism and secularism based on the principles of C. N. Annadurai (Anna) collectively coined as Annaism by M.G.R. The party has won a seven-time majority in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and has emerged as the most successful political outfit in the state's history. It is currently the main opposition party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran , popularly known by his initials M.G.R., was an Indian actor, film producer, film director, politician and philanthropist who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987. He was the founder and first general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. On 19 March 1988, Ramachandran was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. Ramachandran is regarded as one of the most influential politicians of post-independence India. Apart from politics, as a film personality he won the National Film Award, two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and two Filmfare Award South.
Muthuvel Karunanidhi was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He is popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Artist) and Mutthamizh Arignar for his contributions to Tamil literature. He had the longest intermittent tenure as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu with 6,863 days in office. He was also a long-standing leader of the Dravidian movement and ten-time president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam political party. Karunanidhi has the record of never losing an election to the Tamil Nadu Assembly, having won 13 times since his first victory in 1957. Before entering politics, he worked in the Tamil film industry as a screenwriter. He also made contributions to Tamil literature, having written stories, plays, novels, and a multiple-volume memoir. Karunanidhi died on 7 August 2018 at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai after a series of prolonged, age-related illnesses.
Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin is an Indian politician serving as the 8th and current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu since 2021. The son of the former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Stalin has been the president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party since 28 August 2018. He served as the 45th Mayor of Chennai from 1996 to 2002 and the 1st Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 2009 to 2011. Stalin was placed 24th on the list of India's Most Powerful Personalities in 2022 by The Indian Express.
Pattali Makkal Katchi is a Vanniyar caste party in Tamil Nadu, India, founded by S. Ramadoss in 1989 for the Vanniyar caste in northern Tamil Nadu. It is a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It contests the elections with the "Ripe Mango" symbol.
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, formerly known as the Dalit Panthers of India or the Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam, is an Indian social movement and political party that seeks to combat caste based discrimination, active in the state of Tamil Nadu. The party also has a strong emphasis on Tamil nationalism. Its chairman is Thol. Thirumavalavan, a lawyer from Chennai, and its general secretary is the writer Ravikumar.
Andimuthu Raja is an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu, who serves as Member of Parliament for the Nilgiris constituency and the deputy general secretary of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. He was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha representing the Nilgiris constituency of Tamil Nadu and had been elected to house four times since 1996. Raja is an advocate by profession and he did his master's degree from Government Law College in Tiruchirappalli.
Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam or TMMK is a Muslim non-governmental organisation established in the state of Tamil Nadu in India in 1995. The TMMK has described itself in news releases as "a mass based" organisation.
K. Ponmudi is an Indian politician and the Minister for Higher Education of Tamil Nadu, who was disqualified in 2023 after the Madras High Court convicted him in the disproportionate assets case. He was the Minister for Higher Education of Tamil Nadu from 2006 to 2011. He was born in T. Edaiyar in the Villupuram district. He has a bachelor's degree in law, a master's degree in history, political science and public Administration and a doctorate in political science. He is an alumnus of Annamalai University. Before entering professional politics, he was a professor in the Villupuram government college. He has been elected to the Tamil Nadu assembly five times. From 1989 to 1991 during Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam rule he was the Minister for Health, and from 1996 to 2001 he was the Minister for Transport and Highways. He authored a book titled Dravidian Movement in India and Black Movement in the U.S.A.
Jayaram Jayalalithaa was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 1 January 1988 to 5 December 2016, she was the 5th and longest-serving general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a Dravidian party whose cadre revered her as their "Amma" (Mother) and "Puratchi Thalaivi".
A. G. Perarivalan is a former convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. He was on life imprisonment along with Murugan and Santhan who were other two convicts of the same case. The Supreme Court ordered the release of Perarivalan on 18 May 2022 after he spent over 30 years in jail.
The 2005 November Chennai stampede incident happened on 6 November 2005 in a school in Vyasarpadi on the outskirts of Chennai where relief supplies were distributed by the state government for people affected by severe flooding. There were 6 deaths in the accident, which left another 12 injured. The state government announced a compensation of ₹one lakh for all the victims and ₹15,000 for the injured.
Sankararaman murder case was a case on the staged murder of Sankararaman, the manager of Varadharaja Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram, a town in state of Tamil Nadu. He was murdered in the premises of the temple on 3 September 2004. The blame was hoisted on the Shankaracharya Shri Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal and Shri Vijayendra Saraswati Swamigal.
Jayaram Jayalalithaa, commonly referred to as Jayalalithaa, was an Indian politician who was the six time Chief Minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. She was initially convicted for misusing her office during her tenure of 1991–96. Subramanian Swamy was the chief petitioner. Some of the allegations involved spending on her foster son's lavish marriage in 1996 and her acquisition of properties worth more than ₹66.65 crore, as well as jewellery, cash deposits, investments and a fleet of luxury cars. This was the first case where a ruling chief minister had to step down on account of a court sentence. Ultimately, in May 2015, her conviction was overturned, she was acquitted of all charges, and she then died before the Supreme Court of India reviewed the case in 2017.
Hariharan Raja Sharma also known as H. Raja is an Indian politician. He started his political-social life as an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) promoter. He was a MLA representing the Karaikudi constituency in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2006. He was one of the national secretaries of the Bharatiya Janata Party from 2014 to 2020.
Padmanabha murder case was a sensational case during the earlier part of 1990 in Madras in Tamil Nadu, (India) and Sri Lanka. Padmanabha was the leader of EPRLF and he was murdered with 12 of his party men and two commoners in Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu on 19 June 1990. The incident marked the first occasion when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eezham (LTTE), a militant organization, targeted an attack outside Sri Lanka.
The 2015 South India floods resulted from heavy rainfall generated by the annual northeast monsoon in November–December 2015. They affected the Coromandel Coast region of the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. More than 500 people were killed and over 1.8 million people were displaced. With estimates of damages and losses ranging from nearly ₹200 billion (US$2 billion) to over ₹1 trillion (US$12 billion), the floods were the costliest to have occurred in 2015, and were among the costliest natural disasters of the year.
The Sixteenth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election was held on 6 April 2021, to elect representatives from the 234 constituencies in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won the election, ending the decade-long reign of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The DMK's leader M. K. Stalin became the eighth Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and the 12th Chief Minister since the 1956 reorganization. He replaced Edappadi K. Palaniswami of the AIADMK.
The 2022 Tamil Nadu urban local body elections to the local government in Tamil Nadu were held in urban areas in February 2022. The Greater Chennai Corporation, alongside 20 other municipal corporations of Tamil Nadu, went to polling on 19 February 2022 to elect councillors to represents the wards in the respective cities; the elected councillors will choose a mayor from amongst themselves.
Severe Cyclonic Storm Michaung was a moderate tropical cyclone which formed in the Bay of Bengal during the 2023 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. Michaung originated as a low-pressure area in the Gulf of Thailand which crossed into the Bay of Bengal and became a deep depression on December 2. It developed into a cyclonic storm thereafter and was named Michaung. It was the ninth depression and the sixth named cyclonic storm of the season. The cyclone gradually moved north-west over the next few days towards the eastern coast of India. The storm peaked with sustained winds of 60 knots causing heavy rainfall in north-eastern Tamil Nadu including Chennai and south-eastern Andhra Pradesh before making landfall near Bapatla in Andhra Pradesh on December 5.
