NAGAPATTINAM: Tension prevailed in Nagapattinam on Friday after several protesters, including women, fell to the ground when police forcibly removed farmers and women staging a protest over the non-payment of compensation to families affected by land acquisition for the expansion of the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) refinery at Panangudi.
Farmers and women from Panangudi, Narimanam, Gopurajapuram and Uthamacholapuram villages gathered in front of the collectorate and staged a sit-in, demanding payment of Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) compensation to 394 families who had been left out.
The protesters said 2,163 families had been identified as eligible for R&R compensation, but payments had so far been made to only 1,769 families, leaving 394 families without compensation.
Besides the compensation issue, the protesters demanded the closure of a fish oil production unit in Uthamacholapuram, alleging that it was causing foul odour in the locality. Trouble broke out when police asked the protesters to disperse. The protesters refused, following which the police attempted to forcibly remove them.
The farmers resisted, leading to a confrontation. Police arrested some of the farmers leading the protest and attempted to take them away in a vehicle. Women protesters then tried to prevent the vehicle from leaving.
The police subsequently used a rope barricade to restrain the women and push them back. During a melee that ensued, several women, including some carrying babies, fell to the gr ound. One woman sustained an injury to her hand.
Later, the protesters blocked the road in front of the collectorate condemning the police action.