Chennai: “The TVK government should abandon the decision to hurriedly set up a new Secretariat in Pattinampakkam, Chennai,” said AMMK General Secretary TTV. Dhinakaran.
In a statement issued by him on this, he said, “It is true that there is a need to establish a new Secretariat with modern facilities, due to reasons including space constraints in the Secretariat functioning at Fort St. George and the increase in the number of government employees.
However, for that purpose, it is not appropriate to hastily choose a location that could adversely affect the public as well as the livelihood of the fishermen in that area.
In the recently concluded Assembly session, Chief Minister Vijay had announced under Rule 110 that a new Secretariat would be established in Chennai. In order to implement that announcement, the Tamil Nadu government has issued a government order stating that a site has been selected for setting up the new Secretariat in Pattinampakkam, Chennai.
While it is being said that government orders have not yet been issued for several projects announced under Rule 110, the fact that a site for the new Secretariat alone has been urgently selected and a government order issued has raised various doubts.
The Pattinampakkam area, which has been selected for the new Secretariat, is already a densely populated residential area.
Moreover, with narrow roads, traffic congestion, and limited opportunities to expand roads and infrastructure in the future, if the Secretariat is established there, it will cause additional traffic congestion and severely affect the daily lives of the local residents.
In addition, thousands of students and members of the public come and go there every day, as the area is home to various important institutions, including schools, colleges, churches, and others.
If a new Secretariat is established in such a situation, a large number of people, including government officials, ministers, legislators, and the public, will have to come and go, which is likely to create various traffic and security-related problems in that area.
Furthermore, the local fishing community has long been demanding that the land selected for the new Secretariat be recognized as land that has been in their traditional use and that it be handed over to them.
In such a situation, establishing the Secretariat there without properly hearing their demands would amount to an action that affects their livelihood and economy. This cannot be accepted.
When choosing the location for the Secretariat, which should function as the administrative headquarters of the Tamil Nadu government and as a key center for resolving the problems of the entire people of Tamil Nadu, it is essential to hear the views of various stakeholders.
However, by announcing this project under Rule 110 without properly consulting anyone and in a way that even the opposition parties could not discuss it in detail, and now hastily selecting a site, Chief Minister Vijay’s authoritarian approach is being exposed.
Therefore, I urge Chief Minister Vijay to choose an alternative site for the new Secretariat, taking into account all factors such as adequate space, scope for future expansion, and good transport facilities, so that there is no impact whatsoever on the daily lives of the public, transportation, or the livelihood of the local fishing community,” he said.
