Chennai, Oct 25 (PTI) The CPI, which provides outside support to the ruling TVK dispensation on Sunday launched a signature campaign demanding that the Tamil Nadu government abandon its proposal to construct a new Secretariat at Pattinapakkam (Foreshore Estate) in the city along the Marina Beach and issue a GO dropping the project.
Launching the campaign on behalf of the party’s state committee, CPI state secretary M Veerapandian said the party, along with other Left and democratic forces, has consistently raised its voice against the move. The signature drive is being spearheaded by district secretary Siva and constituency secretary Mary Divya.
Appealing to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, Veerapandian emphasised the traditional rights of fishermen over coastal lands. “The sea and the coastal regions belong to the people who live in harmony with it — the fishing community,” he said.
Drawing a parallel to hill-dwellers, he warned that evicting the fishing community from their native coastal areas would destroy their livelihoods and strip the region of its essence.
The CPI leader also raised strong environmental concerns, terming any construction on the beach that obstructs the sea breeze as an “attack on nature”. He asserted that the beach is a public space where no buildings should be erected, noting that such infrastructure contradicts global environmental politics.
Dismissing the notion that the government lacks alternative locations for the administrative complex, Veerapandian suggested that the state utilise existing spaces.
“The government should not think there is no land available to build a Secretariat. Today, 120 acres of land is available at the race course,” he noted, urging the state to pursue an alternative plan that does not displace the public. PTI JR SA
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