Fishermen along Marina Loop road complain of mental agony

CHENNAI: Though the state government has allowed the fishermen to continue the sale of fish along the Marina Loop Road, the police who had arrested the fishermen and their representatives for leading the protest allege harassment from police and punitive action by other state authorities.

The family members of those arrested and detained during the loop road protest allege high handedness by police.

At one side we are restricted to do the sale of fish and on the other hand the houses which were promised by the slum clearance board near Pattinapakkam is delayed.

Adding to the mental trauma our relatives arrested for protesting are now denied bail. We are constantly harassed by the police, said fishermen in Nochikuppam and Loop Road seeking annonymity.

"The government ensured that the houses were allocated for the people affected by 2004 Tsunami in Nochikuppam. Recently, the slum clearance board department had a meeting with the residents of Dooming Kuppam and Selvarajkuppam. The residents of Nochikuppam protested for four days demanding housing, and thus cases have been registered against four fishermen - Rupeesh, Bharathi, Kosumani, and Vaiko Ravi, " said Ethiraj, a resident and fisherman in Nochikuppam.

The bail application was rejected in Egmore court claiming the four fishermen were the main reason for the Loop Road fish shops eviction drive carried out by the Chennai Corporation followed by the instruction of Madras High Court.

"The police informed the court stating that the slum clearance board is issuing token for the residents for housing allotment. If these four fishermen released, they would again protest, and it will impact the people in the area adding chaos to the slum clearance housing project , " added Ethiraj.

Fishermen of Nochikuppam stated that the state government has not provided any document for house allotment in the area, which is the prior reason for the delay in providing houses. The residents urged the government to give documents and ensure the fishermen get houses.

The department plans to give only 200 houses but the demand is five time higher and this again leads to protests and the local fishermen demand housing near the Marina, but the slum clearance board wants to move the fishermen to distant Semmenchery, the local fishermen said.

"Earlier, the slum clearance board mentioned that we would get housing allotment in Semmencheri, but we were against it because our livelihood is assocaited with the coast. Later, the government agreed to construct a housing board in Pattinampakkam, and it would be allocated for the residents of Nochikuppam who did not get houses impacted by Tsunami, " said Kabbadi Maran, another fisherman.

He further added, "As the government had a meeting with the nearby village claiming the houses allotted for us would be given to them. We protested for the same. They arrested four fishermen last week, and the bail application continues to be rejected claiming they have led the other fishermen in the locality to protest following the eviction drive in Loop Road."

When contacted a government official said that there are vested interests among the fishermen creating law and order problem during the recent meetings to discuss housing and alternate fish stall arrangements. These are policy decisions by the state, quiped the official wishing not to be quoted.