Puducherry: Residents of Thengaithittu, an agriculturally rich suburban pocket near Puducherry, farmers, farm labourers, fishermen and non-governmental organisations have come together to launch a struggle and lay siege to the Assembly on March 27 to protest against the Government's plan to construct a deep-sea port in the village. (Budget session of the Assembly begins on March 27).

Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, convener of the Puducherry People's Protection Committee C.H. Balamohanan, president of the People's Action Committee of Thengaithittu, Kaliappan, said that a large number of people would take part in the protest. Mr. Kaliappan said that more than 1,800 families would be affected if the port project came into being. The village has 396 acres of fertile land. The Government has already taken over 153 acres belonging to the Revenue Department and handed them over to a private firm for the construction of the project. Fishermen in the coastal pockets close to Thengaithittu had already lost around 80 acres for the fishing harbour set up in 1986. The residents, who are living there for generations, and farmers earning a living from the land for long, are now facing the threat of ouster from their land.

Mr. Balamohanan said that the project was a threat not only to Thengaithittu but also to Vambakeerapalayam and Uppalam pockets.

What had been perplexing was that the administration had decided to go ahead with the port project without getting prior sanction from the Union Environment and Forest Ministry. The National Institute of Port Management had already pointed out in its report that the port involving an outlay of Rs.2,700 crore would not be financially viable.

He said that without holding public hearings, the Government had gone ahead with awarding the contract to the private player under the Build Operate and Transfer system. The Madras High Court had already made it clear in its directive given in August 2006 that there should be no implementation of any part of the scheme without prior clearance from the Union Environment Ministry.

Mr. Sakthivelu, a municipal councillor of Ariyankuppam commune panchayat, said that they would fight to the last.

Mr. Balu, a functionary of the Puducherry Citizens Network, explained, with the help of power point presentation, how the coastal villages in Puducherry would bear the brunt of the project.

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