2 weeks Ago By Padmaja J
Chennai: A handful of encroachers on Besant Nagar beach were able to obstruct the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials from removing encroachments, threaten and manhandle a journalist and create a public order situation on Thursday, as a posse of city police personnel stood mute witness to the antics. Assigned to protect GCC officials and help them remove an illegal road in Besant Nagar, the police team did little, even as the encroachers were lying on the fork of the earthmover, sitting in protest, and trying to prevent the road removal. This was the second day of the GCC's attempt to clear a 200-metre illegal road near the Arupadai Veedu Murugan Temple in Kalakshetra Colony.
"We faced resistance on Wednesday due to insufficient police presence, so we had to retreat. Now, we came back with more police, and over 50% of the road has been removed," said PV Srinivasan, GCC Adyar Zonal Officer (Zone 13), later in the evening. The beach beach caught the headlines as the encroachers started building houses, digging borewells, and dumping debris to create two illegal roads.
Although the GCC stopped these activities in June following a TOI report, they did not clear the illegal roads until now. "This is a sensitive zone, and local protests are common," Srinivasan added. The demolition team, consisting of 50 GCC officials, workers, an earthmover, a bobcat, and a lorry, arrived at 9.
30am but waited for police protection, standing on the road and seated on the footpath, until 1pm. When the ‘operation' finally began, some protestors gathered at the spot and blocked the men and machines. Protestors claimed that the matter was pending in court, and that the govt should provide basic amenities, including the road.
"There is no court stay order; let us do our job," GCC officials retorted. Apart from a few police officials asking the protestors to leave, the rest just watched. Unlike other eviction drives in Chennai, where police form human shields or erect barricades, no such measures were taken at Besant Nagar.
GCC officials then decided to start demolition from the opposite end of the road where no protestors were present. As the bobcat began breaking the road, protestors quickly regrouped, threatening the drivers, forcing them to withdraw once again. "You're not leaving without removing the road," said a GCC official amidst raging encroachers surrounding them and pointing fingers.
Yet, most of the police personnel just looked on. One earthmover contractor expressed frustration, saying, "why is the police just watching? There are no ropes or barricades for protection. What happens if the vehicle gets stuck in the sand, and the driver is at risk?" "We persuaded the protestors to leave and provided protection to GCC officials during eviction," said Neelankarai police assistant commissioner Bharath.
By 7pm, over half of the illegal road was demolished, but debris remained, and another illegal road near the compound wall was left untouched as the officials and workers departed for the day..
