Fisherfolk protest proposed Secretariat site at Chennai’s Foreshore Estate

Fisherfolk from 64 villages between Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu have continued to protest a proposal to construct a secretariat at Foreshore Estate in Chennai. Hundreds of fishermen and women demonstrated near Srinivasapuram on Tuesday. They said they hoped Chief Minister C.

Joseph Vijay would withdraw the government order concerning the project, arguing that the administration should protect the community’s welfare. Community leader K. Bharathi said Minister Aadhav Arjuna had indicated that the Chief Minister would choose fishermen’s welfare over the secretariat if forced to make that choice.

Protesters said they wanted the current proposal dropped and an alternative site selected. Residents marched silently from their villages to the protest venue. Black flags were placed on the sand as speakers warned that the project could harm livelihoods and restrict their ability to live and work along the shore.

Community leader Kabaddi Maran said residents feared they would lose the freedom to continue their lives and unload fish near the sands. The protesters’ concerns centre on access to the coast and the effect of construction on fishing activity. Another leader, Roobesh, said the government should return land belonging to fishermen that had been taken over and used for housing government staff.

He said several buildings had later been demolished and that the land had been the subject of proposals for a large complex. Viji of Srinivasapuram said fishermen were also demanding the demolition and reconstruction of about 10,000 slum-clearance-board tenements. He said some structures dated to the periods of former Chief Minister K.

Kamaraj and the 1970s and had not been maintained since the 2004 tsunami. The community also wants homes built for non-fishermen living in the villages.