TIRUCHY: Land acquisition for the construction of approach road for the bridge connecting Mela Chinthamani and Mambazha Salai is getting delayed as 42 families who have relocated are refusing to move to the new place allegedly because a settlement for trans gender persons would come up in their neighbourhood.
As per the project plan, 42 families in Annai Sathya Nagar were to be relocated to Mekudi near Panjappur. The previous district collector, M Pradeep Kumar convinced them to relocate and had issued patta for the new site.
As the construction of pillars on the river bed was suspended due to strong water currents in the Cauvery, officials started work on the approach road from Mela Chinthamani.
To facilitate this, 42 families were evicted on November 12. Though the houses have been razed, the families have been staging protests, preventing officials from carrying out construction.
S Sivakumar, a resident of Annai Sathiya Nagar, said the families went to check out the new place at Mekudi in October and found out that a portion of the allotted land was owned by a private party and two Adheenams (mutts).
"Also, another land parcel had been allotted to trans gender persons. We refused to accept the land, following which officials identified another site at Thorakudi," he said. D Murugadoss, another affected person, said when the families visited Thorakudi, the villagers did not allow them to enter the land, stating they had not yet been issued patta for their house sites.
"We are wandering in search of shelter for over a month now, because of the lethargy of officials who allotted us land without verifying records," Murugadoss alleged. Tiruchy East MLA Inigo Irudhayaraj said "There is a court direction that no alternative house site should be given to those occupying watercourses if their habitation is taken away for any development works by the government.
However, the district authorities and I took efforts to help them and issued patta to each of them in a new place. They should not cite lame excuses to deny it. Now, there is no issue in occupying the allotted site. The ball is in their court," the MLA said. When contacted, district collector V Saravanan told TNIE that all the 42 families had already been given pattas for the land near Panjappur. As a nearby area was allotted to trans gender persons, they refused to move there.
"We will speak with them to settle the issue amicably," he said. The Construction and Maintenance Wing of the State Highways Department began construction of the Rs 106-crore. bridge in January 2025. It is being built adjacent to the existing Cauvery bridge, which was built in 1976. The project is funded under the Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Programme (CRIDP), and is supposed to be completed in February 2026.