Plea to identify land away from village for constructing permanent houses for Sri Lankan refugees

Residents of Kulaththuvaaipatti near Ettaiyapuram on Monday submitted a petition to Collector K. Senthil Raj urging him not to construct a permanent housing colony for Sri Lankan refugees in their village.

They asked him to identify a site away from the village for the purpose,

The petitioners said the Tamil Nadu government had decided to construct permanent houses for the inmates of Sri Lankan refugee camp in Kulaththuvaaipatti on a vacant land near the village which was being used by local farmers for decades for drying and storing their rain-fed crops. They were already facing ‘several problems’ due to the refugee camp in their village. Hence, the Collector should instruct officials to identify a site away from Kulaththuvaaipatti for the purpose.

A group of farmers from Srivaikundam taluk at the Thoothukudi Collectorate on Monday. | Photo Credit: N. RAJESH

Farmers of Srivaikundam Kaspa 5^th Channel Irrigation System, led by E. Rajavel, submitted a petition seeking repair of the channel. The channel, which fed water to crops raised on over 450 acres of cultivable land, was badly damaged. Consequently, water could not be released in the channel, they said.

To make things worse, the channel had been cut at some places for the ongoing Tiruchendur – Tenkasi road widening work. Hence, the Collector should instruct officials to repair the channel and construct small culverts wherever necessary before the onset of northeast monsoon in mid-October, they said.

Residents from several villages situated around the sealed Sterlite Copper plant here submitted petitions seeking the reopening of the copper manufacturing unit which remained sealed since May 2018 after the anti-Sterlite protest that witnessed police firing and consequent killing of 13 persons.

The petitioners said they were misguided by a few vested interest groups and now realized that the plant, which was providing employment to their children, did not pollute the environment. The ‘unjust’ closure of the factory had resulted in loss of jobs for their children and development of their villages, which was funded by the plant, had stopped completely. Hence, the Tamil Nadu government should grant permission for the reopening of the plant at the earliest considering employment and rural development.

PMK Thoothukudi North district secretary G. Ramachandran submitted a petition seeking ‘stopping of illicit sand quarrying in Vaippaar’.

He said sand mining was being done with heavy equipment for the past several days from the river after getting permission for taking sand from a private property at Marthandampatti. Hence, the Collector should stop the illicit sand mining.

A group of villagers from Parivillikottai in Ottapidaaram taluk submitted a petition seeking proper laying of paver blocks along the road leading to their farms on the village outskirts. Since an individual was stopping the laying of paver block near his house, the work could not be completed. Hence, the Collector should instruct the officials to properly survey the spot and complete the paver block laying work at the earliest, the villagers said.