"Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been given. But up to now he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life's become extinct, and the climate's ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day." ~ Anton Chekov

Anbulla Kadu (Beloved Forest)

In 2007, the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamilnadu proposed to acquire 1127 acres of common property – forest and grazing - lands in Thervoy Kandigai, a small agricultural village, 50 km north of Chennai. The land, which has been protected by generations of the villagers, has now been earmarked for an industrial park, a move that will endanger the livelihood of the people of Thervoy and surrounding villages, and cause great ecological damage. The film documents the struggle of the people of Thervoy to stop SIPCOT’s project.

Directed by: Anushka Meenakshi & Tarun Saldanha  Camera: Tarun Saldanha


Thervoy (sic) Thiruvai Kandigai. A small nondescript village in Gummidipoondi Taluk of Thiruvallur district, 50 kms north of Chennai.  Surrounded by dense shrubby forests, natural lakes, rice fields and undulating terrain with misty mountain range of Sathyavedu in Andhra as the back drop. This small dalit(!!!) village of about 1000 families is in the eye of a storm.  A storm that can blow away the dreams of Tamil Nadu government to hand over hundreds of acres of land to French tyre company Michelin, a big ticketed investment worth Rs 4000 crore for the state.

Since 2007, when the villagers first heard that their grazing land (meikkal poromboke) of over 1000 acres which for over a hundred years has been part of their life and livelihood would be taken away by State Industrial Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT), this little self sufficient dalit village has been up in arms protesting the alienation of their grazing land.

Numerous protests, petitions, gram sabha resolutions, official meetings were met with the stubborn determination of the TN govt's plans to go ahead with acquiring the land and at times with repressive police actions. In 2009, 61 villagers were arrested and jailed for protesting. In 2009 villagers went to meet the then industries secretary MF Farooqui, who over a plate of roasted cashew and burfis in his plush secretariat office explained to them fruits of industrialisation. When Farooqui promised roads, schools and primary health center, the villagers retorted by saying that the elected government was duty bound to deliver these basic facilities to people. Their grazing land need not be taken for the government to deliver 'welfare schemes'! One might argue that precisely for delivery of such 'welfare' measures the state needs investments. But one wonders what logic prevails when the state destroys already existing sources of natural livelihood and sustenance for thousands of families to industrialise so that it can provide 'welfare' to the same people. {Read the complete story} {Also read}