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Save our houses, NTO Kuppam residents appeal to CM
Around hundred fishermen from NTO Kuppam met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy at his Greenways Road residence on Monday, complaining that they have been pressurised by officials from district administration to vacate their homes for the road widening process, without being given a clear picture about alternative housing facility.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
P R Mahendran, one of the fishermen who met the CM, said that the requirement for the road widening process was 36 feet.
“We cleared the 36 feet distance and more than 150 families had left their homes. But, we don’t understand why the district administration is keen to remove the other houses too. The people living in NTO Kuppam have been fishing there for generations.
The district administration has not given us a clear reason why the other families are pressurised to leave their homes. What is the alternative given to us? The land allocated near the Thyagarajaswamy temple was disputed by the locals in that village,” he said.
The fisherfolk complained that they were threatened by the district administration officials as well as police officials. “We made our representation to the CM, who said he would consider the matter,” said Mahendran. The fisher families say that it is not easy to find a rented accommodation.
Srinivasan, another fisherman, said, “The officials ask us to live in rented homes but who will have us as tenants? We have our fishing equipment, which most people look down on or complain that it stinks. We go out to sea at 1 am and return in the early hours of the morning.
Many families hesitate to rent outhomes to the fishing community. The district administration is pressurising us to vacate immediately. But, where will we go?”
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