DHARMAPURI: Residents of Sogathur panchayat filed a petition with the Dharmapuri administration requesting District Collector R Sadheesh to stop the ongoing land acquisition for the Dharmapuri-Morappur railway line.
The railway line was proposed by the union government to improve connectivity between Dharmapuri and Chennai and `100 crore was allocated by it in 2023. Recently, Collector R Sadheesh had also assured that land acquisition would be completed by the end of this month. However, residents of Sogathur on Monday filed a petition requesting the administration to stop land acquisition as they stand to lose land and livelihood.
Speaking to TNIE, S Revathi, a resident of the village, said, "The Sogathur panchayat lies between the Salem-Bengaluru railway line coming under the South Western Railway and the proposed Dharmapuri-Morappur railway line.
Once the land acquisition is completed, we would be sandwiched between the railway line and the roads leading to our village will effectively be crippled. It is also likely that we will not be provided with any railway bridge to connect our village.
The entire farming sector which provides employment to thousands of people will cease to exist as we will have no means to transport our produce. We urge the administration to stop the land acquisition".
Another resident, C Chinnasamy, said, "We stand to lose our home, farmlands and our pastures sustaining our milch animals. Hundreds of families will be affected by the project. We urge the administration to plan alternative routes and give up on the current plans for Dharmapuri-Morappur railway line".
When TNIE reached out to officials in the administration, they said, "The land acquisition for the Dharmapuri-Morappur railway line is currently being undertaken. A total of 194 acres is required for the project and 134 acres are private lands. We have already acquired 70 acres and require 64 acres for the Dharmapuri-Morappur project".