The sanitation workers protesting in front of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) building were forcibly evicted at midnight on Wednesday, August 13, following an order by the Madras High Court. The protestors alleged police abuse, with two activists stating they were illegally detained and beaten. The sanitation workers, who had been sitting in protest since August 1 vowed to continue the protest despite the court order.
Around 2,000 sanitation workers of zone 5 (Royapuram) and Zone 6 (Thiru Vi Ka Nagar) had been protesting the GCC’s bid to privatise waste collection in the two zones. The private contractor ReSustanability (Ramkey Enviro Engineers Limited) had started collecting waste in July, and the workers were asked to discontinue their work for the corporation on July 30.
The workers, who come under the aegis of the National Urban Livelihood Mission, had been protesting peacefully in front of the Ripon building for 13 days.
However, on Wednesday, the Madras High Court bench, comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Sunder Mohan, directed the police to remove protestors from the pavements in front of the GCC. The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by D Thenmozhi, alleging that the protestors were disrupting the public.
The police forcibly evicted the protestors, taking them to 16 sites spread across the city. Two activists, Valarmathi and Nilavumozhi, said they were illegally detained by the police in Velachery and were beaten throughout the night. Speaking to the media outside the Chintadripet police station, advocate Nilavumozhi said they were arrested by the police and beaten up by officers who were in plainclothes. She also said she had sustained a fracture.
The two of them are currently in D2 Anna Salai Police station. According to sources, advocate Nilavumozhi was taken in after questioning Valamathi’s detention. Inspector of the D2 police station, Mohan Dass, disconnected the call when asked about the detainment. The F1 Chintadripet police also refused to comment.
One of the protesters said that a writ of habeas corpus had been filed regarding the two activists.
Chain of events
Following the court order, the police, around noon, started diverting traffic to nearby areas, including the EVR Periyar road, and barricading the stretch of road in front of the GCC.
They also brought a fleet of buses and a mobile control command vehicle. Initially, they tried to disperse the protestors through announcements warning them that they would be in contempt of court if they did not vacate the place. However, the protestors refused to budge.
“Unless we get a fair judgement, we won’t disperse. You can assault us or kill us. We are ready to face any consequences,” said Rubavathy, a sanitation worker from ward 84 of zone 7.
“If they evict us forcefully, we would die here rather than dispersing. We will be here till we get the solution for our livelihoods,” said Anand, another protester.
In the evening, the police also stopped some protestors who had gone to use the public washrooms from returning to the protest site. Although an eighth round of talks was held with the protestors around 2 pm, the deadlock could not be broken. Protest leaders said that the administration was unwilling to listen to their demands and was only interested in asking them to leave the area.
“For 13 days, it was legal. Today, it suddenly became illegal. The government can decide to make it legal and illegal as they like. When the farmers' protest happened in Delhi, the Supreme Court deemed it their right. There have been so many instances where people have asked for their rights in front of offices of power. We maintain that the High Court is not empowered to block us. The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of the protestors in the 2020 farmers' agitation,” said S Kumaraswami, legal counsel for the protestors.
Around 8 pm, trouble began brewing with the workers complaining that police were barring them from using the washrooms in the GCC compound, which they had been using for the past 13 days.
“They cite no reasons for the restriction. They demand we either leave the protest site or get in the police van. Why do we need to give up our protesting rights? We toiled for 10 years. While we vote for you and make you Ministers and Chief Minister, you are not letting us access the toilets,” said Rajeswari. Following union intervention, the protestors were allowed access to the washrooms.
Around 10 pm, Minister PK Sekar Babu, Mayor R Priya, and Chennai City Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran held a meeting but refused to speak to the media. Minister Sekar Babu also did not respond to TNM queries about the detainment plans of the police. Around 11.30 pm, the police started forcibly removing the protestors. Speaking to TNM, the protestors asked why the police couldn’t evict them while the public was at the site.
A woman worker said, “They are arresting us now, when there is no one from the public in sight. We have been manhandled by male police personnel.”
Many protesters also alleged that the male protesters were physically assaulted and forcibly taken to the bus.
The protesters were all rounded up into MTC buses and taken away. The police then cleared the protest site of banners and posters and shelter materials. Organisers of the protest said that the sanitation workers were taken to 16 different locations spread across the city.