Marina blues: aesthetics versus livelihood

On April 11, the Madras High Court suo motu ordered the eviction of the fishermen from the carriageway. What ensued was stiff resistance, with the miffed fishermen blocking the road with their catamarans. They prevented judges as well as other motorists from using the road for a week.

It probably is the most uncomplicated among the multiple traffic bottlenecks that plague Chennai.

The 18.3-metre wide, 2.55-km long Loop Road along the Marina beach in Chennai, offers great close-up views of the Bay of Bengal in its many moods and colours. Near the bend closer to the Light House, the fishermen’s families sell their daily catch to eke out a living. For sure, they have their stalls on the road, and people are always milling about the road, but that comes from a feeling that it has been their hamlet for centuries.

According to the Chennai Comprehensive Transportation Study, the peak-hour journey speed on Santhome High Road had reduced from 33 kmph in 1992 to 28 kmph in 2008 and 19 kmph in 2018. But it is mostly those who come to buy the fish that park haphazardly, causing the jams noticed in that stretch of the road, which no one else bothered with till the 1960s.

On April 11, the Madras High Court suo motu ordered the eviction of the fishermen from the carriageway. What ensued was stiff resistance, with the miffed fishermen blocking the road with their catamarans. They prevented judges as well as other motorists from using the road for a week.

While the fishermen asserted their traditional right to occupy Loop Road, situated adjacent to the busy but narrow Santhome High Road, the High Court insisted on establishing a legal right to encroach upon a public road maintained by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). The stalemate was suspended temporarily after the GCC promised the Court that it would regulate the fishermen on Loop Road until the completion of a modern fish market.

The permanent fish market is under construction, but it is at least six months away from completion. It will have provisions for 384 vendors as well as toilet and sewage treatment plants. The market also aims to solve traffic congestion caused by buyers by providing parking facilities for around 215 vehicles.

At the nub of the issue though, is a question of land and livelihood rights.