Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai   

Fishermen demand restoration of well on Marina Beach

By Karthik Subramanian

CHENNAI OCT. 25. Residents of Mattankuppam, a fishermen colony opposite the Marina Beach, held a road roko on Saturday morning to demand the restoration of a well on beach sands that was their regular source of water supply until recently.

Traffic along Kamarajar Salai came to a standstill for nearly an hour when the fishermen squatted on the arterial road to protest the demolition that was effected a few weeks ago. The crowd dispersed only after the government officials who rushed to the spot promised the residents increased mobile water supply. They had also temporarily opened the well for the residents.

There are three wells on the Marina beach maintained by the Public Works Department, that have been source of water for the fishermen colonies for several years now.

Residents of Mattankuppam were aggrieved that the government officials demolished only the well close to their colony three weeks ago, while the ones opposite to Ayodhyakuppam and Nadukuppam continued to serve the needs of those colonies.

The government agencies, including the PWD and the the Chennai Corporation, have taken up demolition of several concrete structures along the beach over the past few weeks as part of the ongoing "Marina beautification" project.

On Saturday morning, the Corporation officials arrived at the beach to remove some of the temporary bore wells constructed on the sands. They were met with resistance from members of the fishermen community. They also demanded an explanation from the civic officials why they dug up the tar roads leading to the site where Seerani Arangam once stood.

The Corporation officials reasoned that the roads had been dug up to facilitate the better operation of the mechanised beach cleaner that was commissioned recently.

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