Hundreds of members of the Tamil Nadu Earthmoving Equipment Owners Welfare Organisation will stage a protest on September 28 in the city demanding the government to continue with the projects announced and help them make their livelihood.
In a press meet on Thursday, the organisation’s president Kathipara Janardhanan said that some of the projects, including road projects announced by the government are in a state of limbo and that it was affecting them.
“Many projects, including the Port-Maduravoyal Expressway that was announced, are now delayed. About 75,000 families are dependant on these projects for their livelihood,” he said.
Janardhanan said there were about 1,800 JCBs, cranes and other heavy equipment in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts that remained unused. During the protest, members along with their equipments will gather from these districts.
“Earlier we used to have three shifts a day, now it’s only one shift a week. We are facing an all time low in our jobs. Each equipment would cost around Rs 45 lakh and we pay about Rs 1.05 lakh every month as loan. We want the government to continue with the road projects that they have announced,” he said.