Fisherfolk oppose plan to build Secretariat at Foreshore Estate
Fisherfolk in Chennai are protesting against the government's plan to build a new Secretariat at the Foreshore Estate. They are demanding the return of their ancestral lands and the construction of new housing for 15,000 families.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing tension between urban development projects and the land rights of marginalized coastal communities.
Sunday morning witnessed peaceful protests in villages along the Marina Loop Road, with fishermen hoisting black flags on boats, fish stalls, net mending sheds and homes, to mark their opposition to the new Secretariat.
They demand that the State government return the lands belonging to Srinivasapuram to the village and drop the proposal to construct the Secretariat at Foreshore Estate.
Residents of Srinivasapuram took out a march, carrying black flags through the narrow roads of the hamlet.
“The lands originally belonged to fishermen. They were taken over by the [Tamil Nadu] Housing Board with the promise that we will get homes built on them. But we were cheated. We want those lands to be returned to us,” a fisherman said.
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