Ryots seek return of lands taken for expressway project

Referring to the Madras High Court order quashing the eight-lane greenfield project, the protesting farmers had sought their lands back and demanded that it be done within eight weeks.

Following a delay in returning the land, the farmers called for a demonstration in front of the Salem Collector’s office on Thursday. Though the police denied permission, the ryots, accompanied by members of Communist parties, staged a protest in front of the office.

The protesters, shouting slogans, demanded their lands back and sought the Central government to withdraw its petition on the corridor project in the Supreme Court.

After several months of marathon protests demanding the government to drop the project, villagers heaved a sigh of relief on April 8, when the High Court issued an order to quash the project.

Anticipating trouble, the police were deployed in large numbers at the Salem Collector’s office. They then allowed a few representatives to enter the Collector’s office to submit a petition. “The police have refused permission even for our democratic protest and we are treated like criminals. The government should honour the court order and hand over our lands. If not, we will be forced to move a defamation case,” the farmers said. They also lamented that they could not take up agricultural activity in their own lands, which were now in the possession of the government.

The protesting farmers, instead of laying a new road, wanted the government to rather expand the existing Salem-Uthangarai road into an eight lane. They rued that the proposed corridor project will affect over 15,000 acres of fertile farmlands and forests.

The Salem-Chennai green corridor project is proposed to run through Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tiruvannamalai and Kancheepuram districts.