SALEM: Farmers in the district have come out against the state government's move to set up a mini stadium on a poromboke land spread across 38 acres at Velliyampatty village in Yercaud assembly constituency. The village is situated 30km from Salem city.
The state government had earlier announced its plans to construct mini stadiums in all the 234 assembly constituencies.
The villagers said more than 800 families were dependent on the poromboke land, which they had been using for grazing and cultivation purposes for a living. "We have been using the land for more than three generations," said M Dhanalakshmi, one of the villagers. She said their lifeline would be cut off if the government were to set up the mini stadium there.
Velliyampatty comes under Kuppanur panchayat in Ayothiyapattinam union. The state government had distributed milch cows and goats to 800 families in Ayothiyapattinam union free of cost to improve their living standards. Among the beneficiaries are 35 families from Velliyampatty village. They have been using the poromboke land to graze their livestock and cultivate greens and vegetables.
K Malar, another villager, said the land was their only source of income. Pointing out that even people from neighbouring panchayats were using the poromboke land for their own purposes, she said the district administration was now proposing to procure 10 acres of it for the mini stadium.
"The entire poromboke land was once filled with bushes and trees. We cleared them and made it suitable for agriculture purposes," she said.
The villagers claimed that the proposed site for the mini stadium was situated just 200 metres away from the eight-lane green corridor road project. "The stadium will block the way to our village. We will have to take a circular route, covering at least 25km, to reach the village," said P Matheswaran, a villager. He suggested that officials could use the 1,000 acres of poromboke land close to their village for the project. "No one has used the land till date and the mini stadium could be constructed there."
The villagers warned to take out a series of protests if the government were to go ahead with the plans to construct the mini stadium in their village.
When contacted, district collector S Karmegam said they were scouting for an alternate land atop Yercaud itself, as the mini stadium is meant for Yercaud constituency. "A major portion of the constituency falls atop Shervarayon Hills and the remaining in the plains. It will be good if we construct the mini stadium atop Yercaud. It will benefit the youths in the locality. However, we will duly consider the Velliyampatty villagers' concerns."