Tamil Nadu in the 1970s
70 events, 1970 to 1979; 8 marked as turning points.
1970
Construction of Madras Atomic Power Station begins at Kalpakkam
Work began on the Madras Atomic Power Station at Kalpakkam, India's first indigenously built nuclear power station.
Land ceiling reduced to 15 standard acres
A 1970 Tamil Nadu law halved the family land ceiling, cutting it from 30 to 15 standard acres.
Mullaperiyar lease agreement renewed with Kerala
The 1886 Periyar lease was renewed by Tamil Nadu and Kerala in 1970, with a higher rent and a new charge on power produced from the water.
Order allowing people of all castes to become temple priests
A 1970 order of the Karunanidhi government opened priesthood in public temples to all castes; in 1972 the Supreme Court struck it down.
International Institute of Tamil Studies founded
The state government established the International Institute of Tamil Studies in Madras for research on Tamil.
Ennore Thermal Power Station commissioned
The coal-fired Ennore Thermal Power Station north of Madras began generating electricity, with units added through 1975.
SC and ST students exempted from tuition fees
A 1970 Government Order exempted Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students up to the Pre-University Course from paying tuition fees.
Invocation to Tamil Mother adopted for state functions
Chief Minister Karunanidhi announced that verses of Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai's invocation to Tamil Mother would open state government functions.
Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board created
The Karunanidhi government created the Slum Clearance Board to replace slums with tenements, later backed by a 1971 Act.
Vivekananda Rock Memorial opened at Kanyakumari
A memorial to Swami Vivekananda was completed on a rock off the coast of Kanyakumari after a nationwide fundraising campaign.
State Autonomy Conference held in Madras
Periyar and leaders from other states joined a State Autonomy Conference in Madras called by Chief Minister Karunanidhi.
1971
Reservation raised to 49 percent
The DMK government raised the backward classes quota from 25 to 31 percent and the SC/ST quota from 16 to 18 percent.
SIPCOT founded to develop industrial estates
The State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu was set up to develop industrial parks across the state.
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University established
The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University came into existence with its headquarters in Coimbatore.
Madras Institute of Development Studies founded
Economist Malcolm Adiseshiah and Elizabeth Adiseshiah founded the Madras Institute of Development Studies.
DMK wins 184 seats in the 1971 election
The DMK, allied with Indira Gandhi's Congress, won a landslide in the first Assembly election held under the name Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board given statutory status
Set up in 1969, the TWAD Board was made a statutory body in charge of water supply and sewerage everywhere outside Madras.
Reactor Research Centre set up at Kalpakkam
An order by Vikram Sarabhai set up the Reactor Research Centre at Kalpakkam, which later became the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research.
Madurai becomes a municipal corporation
Madurai became a municipal corporation, the first one set up in Tamil Nadu since independence.
Beggar rehabilitation scheme launched
On his birthday, Chief Minister Karunanidhi launched a beggar rehabilitation scheme and collected funds for it himself.
Prohibition suspended in Tamil Nadu
The Karunanidhi government suspended prohibition and permitted the sale of arrack and toddy, before stopping it again in 1974.
1972
Madras Metropolitan Development Authority constituted
A metropolitan development authority was set up to plan Madras city and its suburbs, becoming a statutory body in 1974.
Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation founded
The state set up the Civil Supplies Corporation to procure and distribute food grains and essential commodities.
Madras Snake Park moves to Guindy
On land leased from the Forest Department in Guindy, herpetologist Romulus Whitaker established an enlarged snake park, run by a trust he set up.
Pallavan Transport Corporation formed for Madras buses
The Pallavan Transport Corporation took over city bus services in the Madras metropolitan area with 1,029 buses.
MGR wins the Bharat Award for Best Actor
M. G. Ramachandran won the national Best Actor (Bharat) award for Rickshawkaran, the first South Indian actor to receive it.
Construction of Salem Steel Plant begins
Following a Government of India decision in May 1972 to locate a special steels plant at Salem, construction got under way.
MGR expelled from DMK; AIADMK founded
After demanding that DMK ministers declare their assets, M. G. Ramachandran was expelled and launched the Anna DMK.
C. Rajagopalachari, once Governor-General, Chief Minister of Madras and founder of the Swatantra Party, died in Madras at 94.
1973
Women first recruited into the Tamil Nadu Police
The first batch of women police, a sub-inspector, a head constable and 20 constables, was recruited in Tamil Nadu in 1973.
AIADMK wins the Dindigul Lok Sabha by-election
K. Maya Thevar won the Dindigul by-election, giving the newly formed AIADMK its first electoral victory.
Anna (Gemini) Flyover opened in Madras
The Anna Flyover on Mount Road, the first flyover in Madras and then the longest in India, was opened to traffic.
Siruvani drinking water agreement for Coimbatore
Tamil Nadu and Kerala agreed that the Siruvani dam in Kerala would supply drinking water to Coimbatore.
Death of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, founder of the Self-Respect Movement and leader of the Dravidar Kazhagam, died in Vellore aged 94.
1974
The new all-weather harbour at Tuticorin began operations as a major port, now known as V. O. Chidambaranar Port.
Anaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary notified
The forests of the Anaimalai hills in the Western Ghats were notified as a wildlife sanctuary, later the Anamalai Tiger Reserve.
Expiry of the 1924 Kaveri agreement
The 50-year Madras-Mysore agreement of 1924 on Kaveri waters expired, opening a long inter-state dispute with Karnataka.
Pudukkottai was made a separate district, combining the former princely state with Aranthangi taluk of Thanjavur district.
Sirima-Gandhi Pact on stateless persons of Indian origin
India and Sri Lanka agreed on the future of the 150,000 persons of Indian origin whose status had been left open by the 1964 Sirima-Shastri Pact.
Poompuhar Shipping Corporation founded
The state-owned Poompuhar Shipping Corporation was founded; it later ran the ferries to the Vivekananda Rock at Kanyakumari.
Assembly adopts state autonomy resolution
Chief Minister Karunanidhi moved a resolution in the Assembly demanding state autonomy, based on the Rajamannar Committee's recommendations.
India recognises Sri Lankan sovereignty over Katchatheevu
Under the Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement, India accepted Katchatheevu island in the Palk Strait as Sri Lankan territory.
Chief Ministers win right to hoist flag on Independence Day
Following Karunanidhi's demand, Chief Ministers won the right to hoist the national flag on Independence Day, and he did so at Fort St. George.
1975
Akilan becomes the first Tamil writer to win the Jnanpith
Novelist Akilan received the Jnanpith Award for his novel Chithirappavai, the first for a Tamil writer.
S. Venkataraghavan captains India at the first Cricket World Cup
The Madras off-spinner Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan led India at the first Cricket World Cup in England, and again in 1979.
Indira Gandhi's government declared a national Emergency; the DMK government in Tamil Nadu opposed it.
Television arrives in Madras with Doordarshan Kendra
Doordarshan began television broadcasts from Madras, the first TV station in South India.
K. Kamaraj, former Chief Minister and Congress president, died in Madras and was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1976.
1976
Kamaraj awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously
Former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj, who died in October 1975, was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna.
DMK workers jailed under MISA during the Emergency
After the DMK government's dismissal, many party workers including M. K. Stalin were jailed in Madras Central Prison under MISA.
India and Sri Lanka sign the 1976 maritime agreement
A further agreement on the maritime boundary restricted fishermen of each country from fishing in the other's exclusive economic zone.
Karunanidhi government dismissed; President's rule imposed
During the Emergency the Union government dismissed the DMK ministry and imposed President's rule in Tamil Nadu.
Sarkaria Commission of Inquiry into the DMK government
A one-man commission under Justice R. S. Sarkaria was appointed to inquire into corruption charges against the dismissed DMK government.
The Valluvar Kottam memorial to the poet Thiruvalluvar, begun under the DMK government, was inaugurated in Madras during President's rule.
Annakili released; Ilaiyaraaja's film debut
Ilaiyaraaja's first film score, for Annakili, carried rural folk music into the Tamil cinema mainstream.
The Madras Crocodile Bank was founded on the East Coast Road by Romulus Whitaker, Zai Whitaker and others to protect India's crocodile species.
1977
Krishna water supply (Telugu Ganga) project agreed for Madras
Tamil Nadu and the Krishna basin states agreed on a scheme to carry Krishna river water to Madras city, later built as the Telugu Ganga project.
Congress-AIADMK alliance wins 34 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu
In the post-Emergency Lok Sabha election, the Congress-AIADMK-CPI alliance won 34 of Tamil Nadu's 39 seats even as the Janata Party took power nationally.
AIADMK wins assembly election, M. G. Ramachandran becomes Chief Minister
The AIADMK-led alliance won the 1977 assembly election and M. G. Ramachandran was sworn in as Chief Minister.
Bharathiraja's 16 Vayathinile released
Bharathiraja's first film, 16 Vayathinile, with Kamal Haasan, Sridevi and Rajinikanth, moved Tamil cinema from studio sets to real village settings.
November 1977 cyclone strikes Nagapattinam and the Cauvery delta
A very severe cyclonic storm made landfall at Nagapattinam, killing about 560 people and affecting around 10 lakh people in Tamil Nadu.
Organised by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India, the first Madras Book Fair later developed into the yearly Chennai Book Fair.
1978
Oru Vilakku one-lamp electricity scheme
Under the 'one lamp' scheme, the MGR government supplied small homes with free electricity and an electric lamp paid for by the state.
Guindy declared a national park
What was left of the forest on the old Guindy estate in Chennai was made a national park, among the smallest in India and one of only a few within a city.
Anna University was established in Madras as a technical university, named after former Chief Minister C. N. Annadurai.
Sankara Nethralaya eye hospital founded in Madras
Led by S. S. Badrinath, a group in Madras founded Sankara Nethralaya, a charitable eye hospital run on a not-for-profit basis.
1979
Mullaperiyar dam safety dispute begins
Kerala's safety fears about Mullaperiyar dam after the 1979 Morvi disaster led Tamil Nadu to cut its storage level to 136 feet and reinforce the structure.
Income ceiling introduced for backward class reservation
The MGR government introduced an annual income ceiling to exclude better-off families from backward class reservation.
First unit of Tuticorin Thermal Power Station commissioned
The first unit of the coal-fired Tuticorin Thermal Power Station was commissioned, with further units added through 1992.
Periyar (Erode) district formed
Erode district, first named Periyar district, was carved out of Coimbatore district.
