Residents of five fishing hamlets, residents of Besant Nagar and environmental activists on Saturday urged the State government to drop the idea of laying a road connecting the Marina Loop Road with Besant Nagar, as mooted.
‘Project is unviable’
Addressing a press meet, the representatives said it was legally and environmentally unviable, and pointed out that it was the AIADMK government that had dropped the proposal in 2011, after a series of protests by fishermen and residents.
R. Sundaramoorthy of Urur Olcott Kuppam, said that around 75% of the houses in five coastal villages would be lost if the government goes ahead with the project. “We will not have space for landing or drying fish and we will completely lose our livelihood,” he said.
Thiruvanmiyur Kuppam’s Chandrasekhar said the government should choose some other route for the road. Otherwise fishermen from Pulicat to Puducherry will hold a massive protest, he added.
Livelihood concerns
Valarmathi, of the Urur Olcott Kuppam’s Women’s Sangam, said they had not slept in peace for over 15 days now.
“Our lives depend on the sea. We cannot move to places like Kannagi Nagar or Semmenchery,” she said. Krithika Vishwanathan of the Kalakshetra Colony Welfare Association said the plan would only create traffic bottlenecks in places like Besant Nagar.
Yuvan of the Chennai Climate Action Group said that the Adyar estuary and its neighbouring beaches were nesting grounds for olive ridley turtles. “The road will disturb the habitat of birds and aquatic animals, apart from causing pollution and irreparable environmental damage,” he said.