Tension prevailed on Friday as the residents of Govindasamy Nagar, Raja Annamalaipuram, protested when workers removed encroachments on a water channel that leads to the Adyar.
A number of women squatted on the road blocking the earthmovers. A few youth quickly climbed the elevated track of MRTS near Greenways Road station and threatened to jump to death. However, the police caught them and brought them down.
Women squatting on the road in protest against the eviction drive at Govindasamy Nagar off Greenways Road in Chennai on Friday. | Photo Credit: K.V. SRINIVASAN
The workers demolished houses that encroached the banks of the Adyar last year. Over 250 houses remained undisturbed since then and approximately 1,000 people lived there. A public interest litigation petition was filed in the Madras High Court and the court had ordered eviction of the encroachers.
On Friday, escorted by a strong posse of policemen, the Revenue Department officers came with bulldozers and demolished a couple of houses on Elango Street. Residents gathered and protested against the eviction drive. They claimed that they had been living there for more than 60 years and the authorities were demolishing their houses without any notice and providing an alternative place.
