Aurovillans hold silent protest against Crown Road project

Chennai: The residents of Auroville Foundation, commonly referred to as Aurovillians, resorted to a silent protest on Friday over the felling of trees and construction of the Crown Road project without due consultation with the residents.

The Foundation and the residents have been on a collision course for the past few days after the former brought in earth movers to fell trees and demolish the youth centre to fecilitate the Crown Road project.

Auroville Foundation is an experimental township in Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu that was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa (popularly known as 'Mother').

After the passing away of Mirra Alfassa in 1973, fissures erupted between the society and the residents of the Auroville city, leading to the intervention of the government of India. Later, the Auroville Foundation Act was enacted by the Parliament in 1988. It comprised three authorities -- the Governing Board, Resident Assembly and the Auroville International Advisory Council.

The Governing Board has the overall responsibility for the development of Auroville and comprises eminent individuals appointed by the government of India. The Residents Assembly comprises all Auroville residents above the age of 18, while the advisory council advises the Governing Board, and normally comprises five individuals of high international repute, usually from different nations.

The Auroville Foundation and the residents have been locking horns over the past few days after the Foundation along with the Town Development Council (TDC) decided to remove trees and some buildings for the Crown Road project. However, the Auroville Foundation said in a statement that this has been approved and gazetted.

There was a standoff on Thursday between the Auroville residents and the Foundation over the demolition of the Youth Centre for the project.

The residents alleged that outsiders were brought in by the Foundation, including local goons, and the residents, including women, were manhandled.

A member of the Resident Assembly, who does not wish to be named, told IANS, "Earth movers were brought in in large numbers on Thursday and buildings and trees were removed and the Youth Centre was demolished."

The members also said that the long-standing collective decision-making process of the community has been undermined.

The Foundation, however, said that the protests of the residents turned into physical opposition, following which they were moved out of the way by some of the workers.

Foundation spokesperson Sindhuja Jagadeesh told mediapersons that the security personnel helped secure the site and prevented people from coming too close to the earth movers, and the structures were demolished without harming anyone.

She also said that unauthorised buildings were removed and some trees were felled for the Crown Road project.

The spokesperson also said that the residents themselves had agreed to dismantle the buildings at a meeting held on December 6, which was chaired by the Secretary of the Foundation.

She said, "The youth had themselves agreed that they would dismantle the centre, but a few senior residents prevented the youth from doing so."