Huge debate over the Pen Memorial of Tamilnadu

Chennai: Tamilnadu Government's plan to build a Pen Memorial for former Chief Minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi at a budget of ₹81 crore is a highly debatable topic today in Tamilnadu. There is huge opposition to this memorial from various parts of the state. Many quote the environmental hazards it may bring to the coastal region.

"Our Government is there to protect the environment. Who are these people creating a ruckus against the Pen Memorial?" questions Ki. Veeramani.

Pen Memorial, a hazard to fishermen?

All India Fishermen Association President Mahesh is totally in for constructing a Pen Memorial. He explains, "We are not against the Pen Memorial of Kalaignar Karunanidhi. At the time we put forth certain queries regarding the safety of the fishermen's community to the Government. The Government clarified all our questions. Only after getting proper descriptions, we accepted to construct a Memorial in the Marina.

The Shore of Marina is heavily populated by the fishermen's community. We may have opposed it If the government had constructed some memorial for a leader who is not totally relatable to our fishermen's community. But only during Kalaignar Karunanidhi's rule, the fishermen community was added to the Most Backward Class from Backward Class. This was made possible only because of Kalaignar.

If the government planned to construct a memorial by bringing in rocks we would have opposed it. Bringing in more rocks will create an island-like part of the sea which will erode some other parts of the sea which will eventually affect the coastal ecosystem. But the Pen Memorial will be constructed over pillars. Pillars won't affect the flow of the seawater. There won't be sand erosion. There won't be any such problems as it happened during the construction of the port. All these clarifications were made by the Government properly. Only after accepting all these clarifications, we made our approval from the fishermen's side.

Clarifications made by the Tamilnadu Government:

The Pen Memorial will be constructed like a bridge structure. There will be a pillar for every 50 m and then The Pen statue will be installed. It will be constructed only above 9m from the sea level. So this won't cause any impact on the livelihoods of the fishermen community.

Fishermen are using only fibre boats in this particular coastal region. So the pillars won't be a problem for the fishermen. Yet there may arise a few issues which will be totally temporary. While constructing the pillars there may be a possibility for the shore to get more muddy and sludgy.

Only on this marina beach, the breeding of prawns is more because of the merge of river water with the seawater. Like prawns, there are certain fish types which will be breeding on this shore. Due to the construction, the breeding ground for these sea creatures may get affected. We made some requests to the government and they provided a few solutions too.

Challenge to Seeman:

All these impacts will remain only until the construction of the pillars. Once the construction is over the shore will retain its authenticity. We also requested the government to not impose any kind of restrictions on the fishermen once the memorial is erected. The government assured that there won't be any restrictions for fishing in that coastal region.

We are the native people of this coastal region. But Seeman was describing some coral reefs which the native people weren't even aware of. The fishermen's community approved this project only after getting the properly needed clarifications. But, Seeman is simply opposing without having any proper discussions with anyone about that matter.

Let me request Seeman to show the coral reefs in this particular region. Let him at least show some rocks in this region. I'm challenging him to prove his statement".

A Statue for Singaravelan:

"Fishermen people own this coastal region. Our leader Singaravelan lived in the place where the Vivekananda memorial house is located at present. Closer to the memorial house we could still find the tombstones of the ancestors of our leader Singaravelan. in order to portray this there should be a Statue for Singaravelan. This area/ street should be named after him. We made the request to the government and the state ministry already approved our request" said All India Fishermen Association Leader Mahesh.

Why a Shivaji Statue in the Sea?

Dravidian Party leader Ki.Veeramani in favour of constructing a Pen statue expressed that, "There won't be any problem in the coastal region because of this Pen Memorial. There are ample number of examples o prove my statement. The Maharashtra government planned to construct a statue of Shivaji Maharaj in the sea. The environment Association approved for constructing the statue. Then, there won't be any issue for Pen Memorial also. The entire construction is getting started only after getting proper permissions from all respective departments".

The Truth:

"I have a question for all those opposing the memorial. If you are so concerned about the environment what are all measures you have taken so far to protect this environment? All those accusations are totally baseless. Pen Memorial for Kalaignar won't be constructed at the cost of affecting the coastal ecosystem. Because the Tamilnadu Government has a big responsibility to protect the environment. The government won't do something that will bring a bad reputation to themselves.

A Fan's Pen Memorial:

Leo Gopal, A resident of Adambakkam, Chennai had constructed his own Pen Memorial for Kalaignar Karunanidhi in front of his house. This news is getting viral all over social media. Leo Gopal shares, "There are many beneficiaries in each and every house of Tamilnadu who are benefited through the Pen of Kalaignar Karunanidhi. He was a modern architect who devised very many schemes for the welfare of Tamilnadu. This pen memorial is one way of appreciating him".