"What Would We Do For Food?" Fishermen On New Secretariat Project In Chennai

Daisy, who sells fish and prawns on the Loop Road along Chennai's Marina, a few hundred metres from the proposed site for the new Secretariat-cum-Assembly complex in Pattinapakkam, is a worried woman.

With the ruling TVK government proposing a Rs 1,200-crore, state-of-the-art Secretariat-cum-Assembly complex spread over 26 acres, she fears the security restrictions around the project could make it difficult for people like her to continue doing what their families have done for generations.

"How would we educate our grandchildren? What would we do for our food?" she asks.

And when asked what she would tell Chief Minister Vijay, Daisy says she is happy that he has become Chief Minister and hopes things go well for him.

"But he should ensure that neither fishermen nor fisherfolk like me are put to hardship," she says.

Not far away, Srinivasan, who has been eking out a livelihood through fishing for over 40 years, fears the government's move could cripple the livelihood of nearly 10,000 fishermen and others dependent on the fishing economy in around ten villages within a 1.5-km radius.

The proposed complex is planned as a 15-storey building with around 20 lakh square feet of built-up area.

Srinivasan fears the area could eventually become a high-security zone.

"Boats can't be parked here. They won't let fish be sold here. It would become a wider road," he says.

For fisherfolk who depend on the sea, the shore and the roads around it, the fear is not merely about losing a patch of land - but losing access to the ecosystem that sustains their lives.

Fisherfolk are demanding that the government order approving the 26-acre project be scrapped and that the land instead be used for housing for fishing communities.

Bharathi, president of a fishermen's association, told NDTV, "They have to quash the project government order. In the 50s, the government had taken away our land and promised plots. They should honour it and designate this parcel of land for our housing."

Environmentalists too have raised concerns over the scale and location of the project.

Nityanand Jayaraman, environmentalist, questions the need for a massive government complex so close to the sea at a time when climate change and rising sea levels are already putting pressure on coastal ecosystems.

"How can they have a massive project like this so close to the sea amid sea level rise? Is there a Tamil Nadu government on a climate change denial mode?" he asks.

The ruling TVK, meanwhile, says the government will be sensitive to the concerns being raised and that Vijay will take the final call.

"One word from our leader would get back the love from the fishing community. Definitely, when there is so much anger and discontentment, the government would be sympathetic," says TVK spokesperson M Sathya Kumar.

It is a political tightrope walk for the ruling TVK.

The party had recently abandoned the proposed Parandur airport project after protests and opposition from farmers. Fisherfolk, too, had largely backed Vijay during his political rise.

Now, with the fishing community raising concerns over the proposed Secretariat project, the big question is whether Vijay will once again listen to the voices of those who fear losing their livelihoods.