Tamil Nadu farmers up the ante against Salem-Chennai Expressway

Farmers opposed to the Salem-Chennai Green Corridor on Tuesday declared that they will not part with even “an inch” of their land and announced intensifying their protests following the Supreme Court order upholding notification for acquisition of the land for the controversial project.

The proposed 277.3-km Green Corridor Express Highway connecting Salem with Chennai has been at the centre of a controversy since 2018, causing much resentment among farmers in the five districts of Tamil Nadu whose fertile lands will be acquired for the project.

Though the expressway, once fully functional, will reduce the travel time between the two cities by three hours and distance by 68 km, the project has been vehemently opposed by farmers and Opposition farmers. Farmers, whose land was to be acquired, knocked at the doors of the Madras High Court which scrapped the land acquisition process.

However, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the notification for acquisition of land for the Rs 10,000-crore project.

“Our opposition to the project will continue come what may. We are not ready to part with our lands. We are convinced that the new highway will serve no purpose as three highways already exist between the two cities. And these are our farmlands. Why should we part with them?” Arul Arumugam, spokesperson of the Movement Against Salem-Chennai Expressway told DH.

Sivagami of Ramalingapuram, a village which might face the axe if the project sees the light of the day, said they have decided to intensify the protests against the project. “The only school in our village and a temple will be razed if the project comes into force, besides our farmlands. We were the first to protest against the project and we are not budging from our stand,” she said, adding that they will hold a dharna on Thursday and launch relay fasts from next week.

Ramalingapuram, 20 km from Salem on the existing Chennai-Salem highway via Ulundurpet, is among several villages that would be affected due to the project.

This DH correspondent had visited 16 villages spread across Salem, Dharmapuri and Tiruvannamalai districts in September 2018 only to find out that the highway has been designed in such a way that it passes through the middle of fertile farmlands, rendering remaining land on both sides useless.

In total, nearly 150 villages will be affected and hundreds of acres of coconut, betel nut, banana and mango plantations would face the axe, if the farmlands are acquired.