Opposition To Secretariat Swells

Chennai: Opposition to the construction of a new Secretariat building at Pattinapakkam, also known as Foreshore Estate, swelled on Friday with the many more parties and citizens’ organisations resenting the proposed project on various grounds and the people of the fishing villages around swearing not to vacate their homes and accept any alternative dwellings that might be offered to them.

While parties like the DMK, AIADMK and BJP questioned the need for a new building to house the Secretariat and the Assembly when the present facility in Fort St George itself could be put to good use, some pointed out that the 25.55 acre plot identified for construction of the building was very close to the posh apartment complex in Pattinapakkam where Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay owns a flat.

That flat was used to hold negotiations with many political leaders ahead of the Assembly elections and it was there that Congress leader and present State Minister Praveen Chakaravorty met Vijay and had a nearly day long discussion. It is one of the many places in Chennai that Vijay uses for residential and official purposes.

Though the 25.55 acre plot, belonging to the State-owned Tamil Nadu Housing Board, is devoid of any structures and might not per se lead to any displacement of people, the Rs 1200 crore project that was announced in the State Assembly, fisherfolk of 12 coastal hamlets have threatened to organize a massive protest.

Many women from the fishing community revealed that they had voted for the Tamilaga Vetti Kazhagam (TVK) in the elections, facilitating the party to capture power in the State, but would opposed any move to evict them from their traditional homes for their livelihood depended on their stay there.

The fishing communities say that the land that had now been earmarked for the Secretariat through a Government Order (GO) was actually meant to building houses for them. Since the project would also affect people living or doing business in the entire region due to the high security requirements that would crop up, it would threaten the livelihood of the Marina Loop Road fish vendors.

The coastal region around the project site was used by over 1,500 fishing families for fish landing and for anchoring boats, mending and drying nets and for processing dry fish. A community representative claimed that they had legal documents to prove their ancestral rights to the land. Others feared that when construction activities kicked off access to the sea would be cut off for them.

Fishing families had warded off several bids by the authorities to evict them from the shore and ‘clean up’ the beach for other uses in the past through protests. In December, 1985, a beach beautification programme ended in a fiasco when police opened fire on protesting fishermen, whose boats and nets were cleared from the sands one day when Walter I Devaram was the Police Commissioner of Chennai.

There were also other proposals like constructing modern buildings on the beach front in that area to accommodate foreign missions and other MNC offices. Even the attempt to throw fish vendors from the Marina Loop Road had only led to protests and the dropping of the project.

A community leader says that parts of the land where the Secretariat is planned to be built was originally earmarked for fishermen relocated in 1958 but that commitment was never fulfilled because they did not have proper representation in the Assembly or Parliament. Other elected representatives had ignored their protests, hunger strikes and demonstrations, they say.

Now to resist the move to use the land for building the Secretariat, CITU leaders from the fishing villages were holding joint strategy meetings and CPM State secretary P Shanmugham accused the government of issuing the GO hastily. He told reporters the government should convene an all-party meeting reach a consensus on the location

CPI State Secretary M Veerapandian, demanding the withdrawal of the project, said that it was a fragile site used by Olive Ridley turtles for nesting and was vulnerable to sea surges, cyclones and flooding. Even the TVK government’s ally, the Congress, had expressed reservations over the project. TNCC president Manickam Tagore wanted the project to be executed without negatively affecting the public.

State Social Justice Minister Vanni Arasu, belonging to the VCK, said the concerns of the fishing communities should be taken into account before executing the project and PMK president Anbumani had already warned of the project engendering sever traffic congestions on Santhome High Road and Pattinapakkam junction.

AMMK general secretary T T V Dhinakaran said the government had bypassed the mandatory public consultation while BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy accused the government of showing vanity on stolen space.