The fourth day of the Nochikuppam fishing community’s protest at the Chennai Loop Road saw the arrest of four fisher association leaders on Sunday, April 30. Greater Chennai police arrested Bharathi, president of the South Indian Fisherman Welfare Association; Rupesh Kumar, president of Parambariya Meenavar Sangam; Kosumani, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s fisher wing leader; and Ravikumar, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (MDMK) Chennai district deputy secretary for staging a protest near Nochikuppam.
The fisher association leaders staged a protest along with fishers of Nochikuppam against the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board’s decision to allocate housing units, which were supposed to be given to Nochikuppam residents, to the fishers of Dummingkuppam. Nochikuppam, located on the shores of the Bay of Bengal in Chennai, was badly hit by the 2004 tsunami. The Board had started construction of the buildings for them after the incident.
On April 27, residents of Nochikuppam came to know that the Board had given tokens to eligible Dummingkuppam families whose houses are in bad shape. Following this, Nochikuppam residents picketed the newly constructed apartments. On the fourth day of the protest, the leaders and other protesters were detained and sent to a community hall near Ambedkar Bridge. Later, Mylapore E1 police arrested the leaders under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
When TNM contacted the police, they said that they couldn’t provide further details as they were busy at the moment. The police said that they had just begun the process of producing the arrested persons before the Saidapet Metropolitan Magistrate Court.
Speaking to TNM, Maran, a fisherman from Nochikuppam who participated in the protest, said that the government can allot apartments to Selvaraj Puram and Dummingkuppam residents as their buildings are about to collapse. But, before allotting the tenements to the others, the government should let the Nochikuppam residents have the apartments on a priority basis.
Earlier this week, a Board official, who spoke to TNM on the condition of anonymity, said, "The government is prioritising the Dummingkuppam community because their houses may collapse anytime now. A total of 320 houses have been allotted for them so that their current place of residence can be demolished and reconstructed."