Manora fishing hamlet to boycott polls in protest

TIRUCHY: Residents of a village near Manora tourist spot staged a protest and declared a poll boycott on Friday, voicing their concerns against the upcoming Dugong Conservation Centre. They claim that the centre is being established to evict the fishers from their land.

It is said that there are more than 100 families from the fishing community residing at Manora Fishers' Hamlet, where the Dugong Conservation Centre is being built. The residents said there were two wells, which were their main source of drinking water, but the Dugong Conservation Centre project led to their closure. Similarly, the officials banned the drying of fish and the use of drying space for fishing nets.

The residents said that they had approached the officials, but their demands had not been fulfilled so far. So, they had decided to boycott the election and hoisted a black flag atop their houses.

The residents said that they were not given proper basic amenities, and they have been fighting for them for a long time, but they were not sanctioned by their village.

“Similarly, the forest department had chopped off around 100 palmyrah trees, and they said that they would plant saplings. They planted saplings, but they all dried away due to poor maintenance. We suspect that the officials plan to evict us from the village,” they claimed.

The residents who protested asked the candidates from all the political parties not to approach them for votes.