Vijay's new Secretariat plan faces protests; fishermen, parties demand site shift

The Joseph Vijay-led Tamil Nadu government's proposal to build a new Secretariat-Assembly complex at Pattinapakkam in Chennai has drawn strong opposition from fishing communities, environmentalists and political parties. Fisherfolk from 12 hamlets have warned of mass protests if the Rs 1,200-crore project goes ahead at the proposed site.

The proposed complex, spread across 26 acres, has triggered criticism from across the political spectrum, with several parties urging the government to shift the project to another location. They have raised concerns over livelihoods, traffic congestion, public consultation and the project's potential impact on the coastal ecosystem.

Residents of Pattinapakkam and the Marina Loop Road area say the project threatens their livelihoods and way of life. More than 1,500 fishing families use the land to anchor boats, mend nets, dry fish and operate daily markets. "We have legal documents and ancestral rights to this land," a local community representative said.

Residents said, "Construction will block our access to the sea. When high-level administrative hubs are built, our presence gets labelled as unhygienic or a nuisance. We fear displacement to distant suburbs like Kannagi Nagar, which will destroy our social and economic fabric."

They also said parts of the land had originally been earmarked for fishermen relocated in 1958, but those commitments were never fulfilled.

Local anger has also grown over what residents described as a lack of representation. They said elected representatives had ignored their grievances despite earlier hunger strikes and demonstrations. CITU representatives from the affected villages are meanwhile holding joint strategy meetings to oppose the project, while fishing leaders have said they will organise large-scale protests unless the government withdraws the order selecting the site.

Opposing the project at the current location, CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugam accused the government of hastily issuing a Government Order for the new Secretariat.

"The construction of a new Secretariat and Assembly complex should not be undertaken in haste. The fishermen's villages surrounding the site currently selected at Pattinapakkam have been opposing the proposal. The government should listen to their concerns," he said.

Speaking to reporters in Chennai on Friday, Shanmugam said the government should convene an all-party meeting on the issue. "A suitable location should be selected after reaching a consensus among all stakeholders. Until then, no work should be undertaken at the site that has currently been selected," he said.

CPI state secretary M Veerapandian has demanded that the project be withdrawn immediately, saying the site is a fragile nesting ground for Olive Ridley turtles and is vulnerable to sea surges, cyclones and flooding.

TNCC chief Manickam Tagore said a new Secretariat was necessary but added that the government should study the proposed location to ensure the "least displacement" and that "the least amount of harm comes to the people". Speaking to reporters in Ramanathapuram on Friday, Tagore said he believed the government would carry out the project in a manner that does not negatively affect the public.

VCK leader and state Social Justice Minister Vanni Arasu also said the project required consensus and should move forward only after taking into account the concerns of fishing communities. PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss had earlier warned of severe traffic congestion at Santhome Road and the Pattinapakkam junction, and argued that the project should be shifted outside Chennai.

AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran criticised the government for bypassing mandatory public consultation, saying the decision was rushed and threatened the area's coastal heritage.

The DMK, AIADMK and BJP have also questioned why such a large amount should be spent on a new complex when the existing facility at Fort St George could still be used. BJP chief spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy described the move as "not governance but vanity on stolen space" and said families from Nochikuppam to Srinivasapuram had already lost land to the Loop Road, diverted traffic, Blue Flag-related works and court-backed "encroachment" drives.

Thirupathy said Santhome High Road, Greenways Road and the Foreshore Estate signal were already traffic bottlenecks, arguing that Metro work had further squeezed the junction. He said the Loop Road had been built because the older roads had failed and traffic jams were frequent in the area. "A government that cannot find 25 acres without driving fisherfolk off the Marina has no moral right to talk of a 100-year Secretariat," he said.

He also warned, "Hear the fishing villages before a single fence goes up. Care about the children and the parents who are likely to get affected. Find land that does not steal the sea from those who live by it. If this government proceeds, it has to own the congestion, the court battles, and the betrayal of Marina's fisherfolk. The BJP will stand with them."

With opposition widening and fishing communities preparing protest plans, the proposed Pattinapakkam site has emerged as the centre of a growing political and local confrontation over the new Secretariat project.