Notwithstanding protests by farmers, Revenue Department officials on Monday began a survey of land and properties to be acquired for the execution of the Salem – Chennai green corridor project.
The police arrested seven people from Achankuttapatti village for attempting to prevent the officials from discharging their duty.
Revenue Department officials undertook survey work in the villages of Manjavadikanavai, Aranganur, Adimalaipudur, Kathirapatti and Achankuttapatti for the eight-lane project.
The officials, accompanied by a large posse of police personnel, surveyed lands in reserve forests as well as poramboke lands, and installed boundary markers in Manjavadikanavai village on the Salem border.
When they tried to measure patta lands, they met stiff resistance from the local farmers, who got into an argument with them and blocked them from carrying out their work. The officials then left the spot and continued their work in other designated areas.
Opposition abounds
In Adimalaipudur village, Ravichandran, a farmer, his wife Sudha, mother Unnamalai and a few of his relatives raised objections to the survey work, and even went to the extent of lying on the field in protest. The officials tried to pacify them and asked them to move away. As they refused to relent, they were forcibly removed from the spot by the police.
The officials faced strident opposition in neighbouring Achankuttapatti village too.
Despite stiff opposition, the Revenue Department officials were largely successful in taking survey of land to a length of 5 km in these villages and installing markers.
The sudden move of the official machinery shocked the farming community and local residents. They said the district administration had called for a public hearing on July 10, and condemned the launch of survey work even before the meeting was held.
