125 houses razed in Thanjai for smart city

Following the smart city proposal, houses built on government land abutting the moat in the old fortified city are being demolished in phased manner. Already, the houses located on a portion of the east rampart were demolished and the residents were given alternate houses at Pillayarpatti around 13 km from the city. There were complaints some of them were yet to be given houses. Meanwhile the officials of the city corporation on Monday commenced the work of removing the houses built on the banks of the moat in the east rampart from the Kodimarathu Moolai area to the Vellai Pillayarkoil.

It is said, the officials have informed the residents to vacate already and on Monday the Corporation officials started demolishing the structures with earthmovers. Though the residents have moved their belongings out, they staged a road blockage protesting the move saying that they were living there for over 60 years. Later police persuaded them to withdraw the protest.