Chennai, Fishermen across Chennai’s coastal belt from Ennore to Kovalam are staging a protest here on Tuesday demanding that the state government immediately withdraw its proposal for ₹ 1,200-crore Secretariat-Assembly complex at Pattinapakkam in the city.
Hundreds of members from the community including women sat in protest at Srinivasapuram Beach in Pattinapakkam while another section took out a black flag procession to draw the government’s attention to their plight, amidst heightened police presence, barricaded areas and traffic diversions.
As protests from the fishing community and political parties swelled, the government clarified that only the detailed project report process is underway, asserting that the process is only in the preliminary stage. The villagers from Mullikuppam, Mullima Nagar, Mylapore, Srinivasapuram, Nuchikuppam, Ennore and Kovalam and other coastal areas have joined the protest in support of their demands which also include declaring the coastal stretch as a traditional residential area for fishermen, providing the promised housing for community and land titles . The fishers, however, commenced the protest today demanding the government to formally rescind the GO which posses a threat to their traditional livelihoods and coastal ecology. Today’s protest is part of a structured flash protest and token strike with the community leaders warning of launching an indefinite protest and multi-phase agitations if their demands were not met.
