New fish market for Nadukuppam

K S Kandasamy, Deputy Commissioner (Works), said, “Around 28 shops will be built over the next six months, at a cost of Rs 70 lakh, which will be taken from the Corporation Capital Fund.” However, a source from the Corporation added that this construction has nothing to do with the recent violence at the fishing hamlet.

“The plan for the construction of a 5,400 sq ft fish market in Nadukuppam was approved last year itself. The work will start soon. The Fisheries Department has made temporary arrangements for the fisherfolk, until the concrete fish market is built,” said a senior official. 

Ashok R Kumar, the headman of Nadukuppam, too concurred that the plan to build a fish market in the village has been in on the cards. “The ministers visited us and said that the government order to start the construction will be given soon. We were promised that the fish market will be completed within the next few months,” he said. 

On Saturday, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar, along with Corporation Commissioner D Karthikeyan and other officials, visited the fishing hamlet, which bared signs of the recent violence. Nadukuppam residents alleged that they were the victims of police brutality, when the protests took a violent turn on January 23. The fisherfolk claimed that they were merely helping the protesters, who had run into their village to escape police lathi-charge at the Marina. 

However, they said that the Police started barging into their houses on the pretext of looking for protesters and lobbed tear gas at the villagers before lathi-charging them. The villagers alleged that police torched their fish market besides damaging ice boxes and other equipment. Meanwhile, as pictures of the charred fish market is doing the rounds on social media, help has been pouring in for the residents of Nadukuppam. 

Various NGOs and citizen-led initiatives have started working with the villagers to restore their livelihood at the earliest. Sharmili S, a resident of Nadukuppam, said, “We have also had many people coming forward to help us during this time.” 

M Satish, Joint Secretary of Forum for IT Employees (FITE), said a group of IT professionals got together to help the villagers. “While justice will take its course, we wanted to help the people of 

Nadukuppam get back on their feet. We have procured ice-boxes and weighing scales for them, so their livelihood is not affected,” he added. 

Another group, headed by Mohamed A K Jailani, who runs an online forum to help provide food for the homeless in the city, is helping the fisherfolk with provisions. “Until they get back their livelihood, we are planning to get provisions for 150 families in the village. So far, we have covered 91 families and are looking to raise funds to provide for the rest,” he concluded.