Nalla Thaneer Odai kuppam fishermen want new homes before eviction for EMRIP project

Fishermen of Nalla Thaneer Odai (NTO) Kuppam complained that in the guise of road widening work for Ennore-Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP), the residents of the hamlet were being evicted from the locality.

K Bharathi, President, South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association, said that when the local authorities requested the fisherfolk to vacate the area required for the road widening purpose, they willingly agreed. “The officials, including the tahsildar, said that 200 houses needed to be demolished for the road widening project. An assurance was given that families would be resettled and that each family would be given Rs 20,000. However, six months down the line, there has been no move to construct any home and the families, who are living in rented houses, are finding it difficult to make a living and pay the rent,” he said, at a press conference on Wednesday.

The fisherfolk in NTO Kuppam question why the rest of the families too are being asked to leave. “When the authorities said an area of 36 meters was required for the project, we agreed. Why are the rest of the families, who are beyond this project area, asked to leave? The government had promised us an alternative housing location in survey no 1/1. But that is under the sea now. Then, the officials allocated the land near the Thiagarajaswamy temple, but that is under a different survey number. The process of transferring the land to the Slum Clearance Board too is not yet underway. On the other hand, the families living in the adjacent Cherian Nagar were first resettled and the demolition took place after that. Why aren’t the companies near the road not being evicted for the project?” Bharathi asked.

Many of the local families have been living in the locality for generations. Even after her house was partially demolished, Vijaya R, a fisher woman, still lives in the structure. “This is the house that my grandfather had built. Due to the erosion, the sea has moved inland, pushing us closer to the road. But for generations, our families are living here; our livelihoods are closely linked to the sea. But now, the authorities are asking us to leave without any alternative – where do we go?” she wondered.

The affected want the government to fulfil its promise of providing housing in the land near the temple, for the 446 families from the locality. Apart from the land required for the project, the remaining area should be allocated for the use of the fishermen, for their livelihoods.

M A Jayakumar of Coastal Community Protection movement said that as per the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notifications, it is the fisherfolk who have the traditional rights to the land and this cannot be sold to non-traditional coastal communities. “We will organise a bigger protest, if the authorities continue to threaten us,” he said.