Green clearance for Karunanidhi memorial leaves activists, fishermen seething

Fishermen and ecologists are clearly unhappy with the environmental clearance given to a memorial for DMK stalwart and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. The ‘Pen’ memorial, off Chennai’s iconic Marina beach, was allegedly cleared bypassing Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.

Eyebrows have been raised on how the MK Stalin-led DMK government managed to get clearance for the controversial monument at a time when the state and Central governments are locking horns over several issues.

The upcoming Pen monument for Karunanidhi is planned to be constructed 360 metres from the shoreline, in the Bay of Bengal. A bridge will connect the monument to land.

Preferential treatment

Typically, CRZ norms aren’t sidestepped for political monuments and statues. For instance, the Radisson Blu Temple Bay luxury resort in Mahabalipuram near Chennai shelled out a huge fine when it was charged with violating CRZ norms. Yet, stalls selling fish on the Loop Road on Marina beach were termed encroachments, and the Chennai Corporation evicted them.

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“We were removed from selling fish despite earlier promises by authorities. It shows that the high and mighty are treated differently and fishermen are discriminated against,” complained Kavari Maran, founder of the Tamil Nadu Fishermen Association, who lives in Nochikuppam abutting Loop Road.

“All our rights were taken away by deceit. We gave way for various development activities including the construction of the Gandhi statue and lighthouse and more…Our homes were moved to ‘beautify’ the beach. After encroaching on our land, they have tagged us as encroachers,” he said.

The 12-km Marina beach, which extends from Fort St George to Besant Nagar in Chennai, is considered the world’s second longest natural beach. It has attracted the attention of all rulers, from the British to post-Independent regimes. 

Now, a dozen statues —  of Mahatma Gandhi, K Kamaraj, Subhash Chandra Bose and others —  dot the beach. Also located are grand memorials to Dravidian stalwarts such as C Annadurai and MG Ramachandran, followed by those for later chief ministers J Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi. 

Development or disaster?

Historically, development has meant disaster for fishermen living by the Marina beach. Fort St George, the government secretariat, was established after evicting fishermen. The condition of the fishing community went from bad to worse after Independence, said Nithyanand Jayaraman, an ecologist.

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Most parts of Marina beach one sees today were fishing hamlets in the past, Jayaraman told The Federal. “Irrespective of whether it was DMK or AIADMK government, fishermen’s rights over the land were taken away. Isn’t it amazing that the DMK government in Tamil Nadu and the BJP government in the Centre are one vis-à-vis the Pen monument, that too in a protected Olive Ridley turtle habitat?” he asked.

The notification of CRZ rules in 1991 helped stop unchecked human activity in the coastal line and near water bodies. But the rules have been modified multiple times as the original act was considered stringent. Ecologists allege the Act was made flexible enough for tourist, commercial or political needs.

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The 2011 CRZ amendment and its associated notification are a watered-down version of the original 1991 Act, said Jesu Rethinam, Convenor, Coastal Action Network. “As per the notification, a map has been released which clearly demarks specific locations for tourism purposes. But the same map doesn’t include many of the fishermen hamlets in which we have been living for centuries. We see this as a plan to evict us. A case has been filed for a proper translation of the notification in Tamil so that all the stakeholders can go through the document and fight for their legitimate rights,” Rethinam told The Federal.

‘CRZ failing people’

According to Rethinam, the CRZ has failed the people living on the shores while helping “outsiders”. She said activists were working on legislation to help restore historic, traditional and customary rights of the people.

The fishing hamlets in and around Santhome on the Marina beach are said to be the original inhabitants of Chennai. They had been selling fresh catch for centuries in the beach earlier, and later on the roadside in what is considered to be the Loop Road today.

“There is recorded history which proves that the present Loop Road was actually a fishing hamlet,” said Nithyanand Jayaraman. “I have a 1919 map which clearly shows the presence of Nochikuppam and Dumil Kuppam, even though their actual history goes back much further. Only in the 1950s and ’60s were the City Improvement Trust and Slum Clearance Board formed, which ultimately changed the landscape of fishing villages.

“The fishermen were removed from their rights to station their kattumaram (catamarans, meant to fish within 3 km from the coast) for fishing. The protest against such an action led to police firing in which four people were killed in 1984,” recalled Jayaraman.

Tormented fishermen

Said Maran: “First they removed us from the shores… Then they built pucca roads claiming it would help us reach our new home. Later they turned them into pucca two-lane roads with platforms and allowed us to sell fish on the platforms… Now they have taken away our rights to sell fish on the platform.”

Construction of the Loop Road is just a pretext, the real intention is to evict the whole fishermen community, said Jayaraman.

The Marina beach is a symbol of culture in Chennai. But Jayaraman rues that elites thrust on others their sense of aesthetics, which he feels is resulting in the removal of fishing hamlets. “This is their ‘beautification’. This is worse than how the British treated the fishermen community,” he said.