Protest in Masinagudi bring traffic to standstill

Gudalur MLA Pon Jeyaseelan and AIADMK members protest Forest Department, blocking roads for hours in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

Gudalur MLA Pon Jeyaseelan, AIADMK party members and a handful of local residents staged a road roko along the Masinagudi to Theppakadu Road on Thursday, protesting against the Forest Department whom they accused of not allowing building materials to be transported to a village within the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR).

The protests led to roads being blocked for over three hours and caused frustration to thousands of local residents and travelers who were stuck for the duration of the protest in hot conditions that prevailed over the area.

According to officials, the face-off between the protesters and the Forest Department started on Thursday morning, when a vehicle carrying materials for a project sanctioned under the MLA constituency development fund for providing drinking water to villagers in Chemmanatham was stopped by the department staff.

It has been said that due to the Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forests (TNPPF) Act being in place in parts of the buffer zone, and concerns over illegal construction of resorts, movement of materials into the area was highly regulated.

P. Arunkumar, Deputy Director of MTR (Buffer Zone), told The Hindu that he had instructed Mr. Jeyaseelan earlier that the Survey Department would need to undertake a survey of the area where the project was to be implemented in Chemmanatham. Following the survey, he said that the Block Development Officer attached to the Revenue Department would have to draw up a proposal which would have to be cleared before construction on the project began with appropriate clearances from the authorities concerned.

However, as the materials for the project had arrived without the requisite clearances, they were stopped at the Masinagudi checkpost and asked to return, which prompted Mr. Jeyaseelan to stage a protest.

According to R. Hariharan, who was stuck in traffic for three hours, many elderly people and children had to get out of their buses and walk towards Masinagudi town.