Cheyyar farmers plan march to Fort St George

TIRUVANNAMALAI: Enraged by PWD minister EV Velu’s statement in the Assembly on Thursday that 98 per cent of farmers supported the proposed expansion of the Cheyyar SIPCOT industrial estate, farmers plan to take out a march to Fort St George, according to Arul Arumugam, coordinator of the protesting farmers.

“The march is to confront the minister and tell him that he was wrong. Farmers will carry their chitta and adangal documents (farmland ownership documents) to prove that they are farmers from the affected area”, Arul said and added that the date for the march would be finalised shortly.

The minister’s statement resulted in farmers numbering more than 60, including women, staging a protest on the bund of a field the same night in Melma village. Similar agitations were also held in fields in a few other places on Friday.

It may be recalled that farmers of 10 villages near Melma, 18 km from Cheyyar town on Kancheepuram Road, have been agitating since June 2 last year, after the state government mooted the expansion of the existing SIPCOT industrial estate in Cheyyar. “The proposal will affect 3200 acres in 10 villages as well as the livelihoods of nearly 7000 people, C Murali, media in charge of protesting farmers group told DT Next.

“The agitation has been continuous, except for a brief period when seven farmers, including Arul, were arrested and detained under the sGoondas Act”, he added.The arrested were released on the advice of Chief Minister MK Stalin following public outcry against the move.

“From that day on, we have been agitating peacefully with locals from the affected villages extending support to us,” Arul said. “The agitation will continue till the government gives up the proposed expansion move”, he added.

Though an agitation to counter the farmers’ move did take place, it fizzled out when everybody left while the affected farmers continued to stage peaceful demonstrations daily, sources revealed.