Just Spamming | People’s Screams Have Drowned Many Projects
For the fishing families it is not a political decision but one that involves their livelihoods. Even if the 25.55 acre land in which the new Secretariat and Assembly complex would come up, as per the Government Order issued before Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay boarded the flight to London, is not occupied by people now, the project is feared to cause displacement in the fishing villages close to the site
The unexpected eruption of anger against the proposed construction of the new Secretariat and Assembly building in Foreshore Estate in Chennai is not something that could be wished away or swept under the carpet. The palpable resentment among the people in the coastal villages, which is snowballing into an organized protest, could assume myriad proportions in the coming days for it is seen as an instance of the poor people’s voice against a mighty government getting heard. Even ordinary people outside the locality, leave alone the habitual naysayers and professional protesters, are supporting the fishing community, whose ubiquitous presence on the sprawling silver sands has been resented by many.
The popular elitist notion that the long coastline in Chennai presents a dirty picture, a far cry from the photo postcard images of popular beaches around the world, because the fishing community literally owns the sands and was exploiting it as they wished notwithstanding, middle class people are supporting the fishing families that have braced to put up a stiff fight against the government implementing its pet project.
For the fishing families it is not a political decision but one that involves their livelihoods. Even if the 25.55 acre land in which the new Secretariat and Assembly complex would come up, as per the Government Order issued before Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay boarded the flight to London, is not occupied by people now, the project is feared to cause displacement in the fishing villages close to the site.
Belonging to the Tamil Nadu Housing Board, the site can go for a residential complex which will be seen as a normal thing. But a building to house several government offices, most importantly the Chief Minister’s which is the power hub of the State, and provide work space to the top bureaucracy and also to hold the Assembly sessions that would see 234 legislators troop in with their paraphernalia whenever the House met is different from a crowded housing colony. If the Secretariat becomes functional, the entire Foreshore Estate would turn into a high security zone with restrictions imposed on those living and those entering there.
Since a close vigil on the movement of the people would be a cumbersome process, the security agencies would obviously create sterile zones around and evict those living there or using the spaces as work spots. Since a lot of productive work goes on in the beach, day in and day out, with fishermen setting out to the sea on their fishing expeditions, landing in the shore, taking their catch out of the boatssp for auctioning them or transporting them to the market or storage space, drying the wet nets and occasionally mending them and sleeping over on the sands to guard their boats and fishing gear left on the sands, the security agencies will not allow the humdrum to continue.
So the community would be displaced, lock, stock and barrel, to not only make the beach clean and beautiful but safe for the top brass of the State when they come to work in the morning and stay through the day and late evening taking critical decisions concerning the State. With round-the-clock vigilance coming into place and every visitor seen as a security threat unless proved otherwise, life in the coastal region will not be the same again, much to the detriment of those belonging to the space. So obviously they will be asked to move out and find alternative spaces to continue their traditional vocation or find alternative livelihoods in the name of security.
It is in view of that, the people have started murmuring and digging in their heels, refusing to not move out. It is not clear how the people’s resentment would turn out to be. The Government, in its desperation to find a spacious, modern building could evict the people by force or give in to demands for the people to look for an alternative site or even drop the project unable to overcome the obstacles thrown at them by the common people. In the same sprawling Marina sands, way back in 1985, the bureaucracy, with the active support of the State police, launched a beautification drive only to end up with mud on its face. The sudden removal of boats and fishing gear from the sands by the police sparked a continuous protest that even the police could not quell.
In the police firing on the angry protestors on December 4, 1985, more than five persons were killed and the community even raised a plague in memory of them, observing the anniversary of the ‘black day’ even now. The fishing community was allowed to continue with its regular activities and Marina sands regained their original flavor. Similarly, many proposals for development projects have been shelved because opposition from people led to protests. The second airport for Chennai, proposed at Parandur and surrounding villages but given up after the present TVK government came to power in one latest example and public protest stopping a government project.
An earlier attempt to build a Secretariat at the Queen Mary’s college campus, also facing the Bay of Bengal, in 2003 was abandoned due to a protest. Thousands of students came out in anger against the demolition of the buildings in the historic campus to hold overnight candlelight vigils and received support from a wide range of people including centenarian alumni and politicians like M K Stalin.
