Close liquor shops

Close liquor shops and provide shelter to pavement dwellers, PMK leader tells Tamil Nadu govt

CHENNAI: A day after three pavement dwellers, including a pregnant woman, were fatally run over by a car driven by a drunk driver at Velacherry in Chennai, PMK chief S Ramadoss on Tuesday blamed the Tamil Nadu government for the increasing number of such accidents as it has not taken any steps to close down liquor shops.

In a statement, Ramadoss said Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of people being killed in road accidents and most of the mishaps happened due to drunk driving.

"Ten years ago, six people were killed near the Udayam Theatre at Ashok Nagar when a vehicle driven by a drunk driver hit them. Accidents like these are happening in the state quite often," he said.

He said though the Slum Clearance Board had been functioning in the state for the last 50 years to provide apartments to homeless people, thousands of people continued to live on pavements.

Ramadoss demanded the government take immediate steps to close Tasmac shops and give shelters to pavement dwellers.