Chennai-Salem highway row: Aggressive land acquisition by TN govt snowballs into major controversy as protests escalate

Despite mounting opposition to the project,the state government appears to be in a hurry to complete the 277.3-kilometre eight-lane expressway connecting Chennai and Salem and started preliminary surveys, which prompted wild reactions from farmers.

In Tiruvannamalai district alone, where 123.9 kilometres of the proposed highway would pass through, about 95 percent of the land procured is precious agricultural land. Naturally, the farming community here is the most worried and agitated, as their traditional farming practices are at stake.

Tiruvannamalai is one of the five districts that the proposed superhighway is to pass through. The other districts are Kancheepuram, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, and Salem. The longest stretch of the proposed highway, which will pass through Tiruvannamalai, is expected to have a damaging impact on the pristine Eastern Ghats forest environment, say ecologists

The government started the survey work despite the protests and opposition, and so far, a total of 56 kilometres in Dharmapuri district and 30 kilometres in Salem district have been completed. Boundary markers have also been installed despite stiff resistance faced by the officials in many villages.

The government has failed to take into account the environmental cost of the whole project, but it is bent upon only luring farmers through higher compensations. Earlier, the compensation for a felled coconut tree was put at Rs 40,000 but now, it has been raised to Rs 50,000. And while it was only Rs 350 per square feet for concrete houses earlier, a 500-square-feet concrete house would now get a compensation of Rs 25.50 lakh.