Following the fresh attempts by the Greater Chennai Corporation and the police department to evict the fish stalls at loop road, the fishing community of Nochikuppam on Monday, April 17 took to the streets to register their protest.
The stretch from Light House to Nochi Nagar has been blocked by the fisherfolk who are insistent on their decision to keep their stalls on the west side of the loop road. The community is scheduled to appear before the court regarding the eviction on April 18.
“We did not go into the sea today, so no business today either. The officials of the corporation along with the police personnel came today and started clearing out the fish we had in the freezer boxes on the road,” K Bharathi, former vice president of Mylapore-Nochikuppam Fishing Gram Sabha, said. “We were not asking for any trouble. They are trying to make an issue out of this,” he further commented. According to the community, they were also stopped from setting up stalls on the platform beyond the width of the loop road.
“The intensity of today’s protest is not as high as it was before (April 12 and 13). We are trying to avoid creating trouble because we have to appear for the court proceeding tomorrow (April 18),” said Ravi, Mylapore zone secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Under Madras High Court’s immediate eviction order, GCC and police officials had razed down the fish stalls along the west side of the loop road on April 12. The fishing community of the area protested the eviction order on April 12 and 13 until they were given temporary permission to continue their business with restrictions.