Fishermen living along Marina Loop Road have written to all fishing villages in the city and various organisations seeking support for their fight against authorities taking over the road. They have been holding talks with the Corporation and the Police and are clear in their stand that the road is theirs. Officials don’t understand the relationship between fishermen and the sea. We dry our fish, repair our nets, land our boats and sit watching the sea and boats in that space. Initially, the road was part of the beach. It then became a small mud road due to the movement of our carts. Tar was laid much later. It was a road used by people in these hamlets. 1985 protest In 1985 when former Chief Minister MGR tried to shift our catamarans, there was a huge protest and some fishermen died. He let us be after the protest, said K. Bharathi, South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association. The mood in the fishing hamlets, including Nochikuppam and Srinivasapuram, is that the police are waiting to do a repeat of 1985. The Corporation has been proposing to widen Santhome High Road, but it has not taken any step since affluent people live there. Even Greenways Road, with bungalows of Ministers, has not been widened. If those roads are widened, the fishermen can be left alone. Too many accidents are happening on Loop Road owing to rash driving. We cannot allow the police and the Corporation to take over this road. Our people have been here in this city for centuries. We will fight, said M. Ilango of National Fishworkers Forum. Former officials of the Highways Department recall that the department had maintained the road for two years from 2002 after the Corporation handed it over to them. It was in a bad shape then with sand and rubble all over the bituminous surface. We re-laid the road and constructed platforms on both sides spending nearly ?7 crore at that time. Fish was sold on the footpaths, recalled a former official.