MDMK cadre succumbs to burns

MDMK general secretary Vaiko reacts emotionally after party cadre Ravi from Sivakasi set himself ablaze, in Madurai on Saturday.

MDMK general secretary Vaiko reacts emotionally after party cadre Ravi from Sivakasi set himself ablaze, in Madurai on Saturday.   | Photo Credit: S. James

Sivakasi Ravi set himself on fire on Saturday at the venue where Vaiko began his yatra.

A. Ravi alias Sivakasi Ravi, 45, a member of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, (MDMK), who set himself on fire on Saturday at the venue where party chief Vaiko began his 10-day padayatra from Madurai to Cumbum against the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project, succumbed to burns at a private hospital on Monday morning

Mr. Vaiko will pay his last respects today.

While beginning his yatra, Mr. Vaiko had contended that if the INO project was implemented, Madurai and surrounding districts, which rely on water from the Mullaperiyar dam, will be deprived of that source.

β€œThe blasting [of rocks] to be carried out on the mountains would demolish the Idukki Dam, the Mullaperiyar Dam and several buildings in Theni,” he alleged.