THOOTHUKUDI: Hundreds of saltpan workers and producers on Monday held a protest at the collectorate opposing the proposed shipbuilding project at the Mullakadu-Kovalam beach.
The leaders of the protest petitioned Collector Vishu Mahajan who chaired the weekly grievance redressal meeting at the collectorate.
Over 2,000 persons including the salt pan lessees of ‘poramboke’ lands, patta land holders, and saltpan workers participated in the agitation against the state government proposal to allocate the poramboke lands leased for salt pans for ship building project on behalf of a joint venture formed between the SIPCOT and the Union Ministry of Shipping.
Condemning the state government for pushing the project to the saltpan areas of Mullakadu, the lessees said that it is unethical to replace the salterns with a multinational shipbuilding industry. They also rejected the district administration’s allocation of land parcel belonging to SIPCOT for developing salt pans at Vaippar village in order to rehabilitate and resettle those who need to be displaced for the project.
Kovalam Pasuntharai small-scale salt producers association secretary P Sekar outrightly denied the district administration’s package of alternative land and compensation for the salt producers. Calling it an eye wash, he said that the district administration must relocate the ship building project to Vaippar, where the sea depth is 30 feet, while it is 14 ft deep at Mullakadu.
The ship building project will affect the fishing activity and cause pollution, he alleged. LR Sivakar, one of the leaders of the agitation, said the TVK government is keen on focusing on shipbuilding projects, disregarding the interests of the salt producers. “If the district administration did not consider our reasonable demands, the agitation would acquire the magnitude of the anti-Sterlite agitation,” he warned.
Amirthammal, a salt pan worker, said they have been working for three generations at the salterns of Mullakadu. It has been a viable place for salt production and employment. The shipbuilding project will immediately affect their livelihood, she said.
