CHENNAI: University teachers and green activists on Saturday staged a fast against a proposal to acquire 3.94 acres from the Pachaiyappa’s College campus for a Metro Rail station and demanded that either the move be dropped or the station relocated. Association of University president Dr Va Mu Se Andavar told Express on Saturday that that the proposal to build the railway station will lead to the demolition of the majestic front arch opened by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 1994, besides destruction of the green foliage in Kilpauk.“The Chief Minister honoured the institution by presiding over the 150th year celebrations of our college. She also donated Rs 25 lakh for the educational development of poor students, but the DMK-backed trustees of the Pachaiyappa’s Trust Board have done injustice to the institution by giving their acceptance to the Metro Rail authorities to acquire the land,” he said.Now, we request the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter and render justice by protecting our college land in the interest of poor students, he added.M B Nirmal, founder and chairman of Exnora International and an alumnus of the college, questioned the viability of having a railway station at Kilpauk when railway stations had been proposed for Chetpet and Shenoy Nagar.The Pachaiyappa’s campus has a large number of rare species of medicinal plants and serves as a green belt of the area, he added. “The railway station should not be built here. It should be relocated or else there will be massive agitation by students against this move,” he added. Andavar said the teachers also demanded withdrawal of the order of the Director of Collegiate Education to the Pachaiyappa’s Trust Board to hand over the land to the Metro Rail authorities on a permanent basis.
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