Mon Dec 16 14:18:31 UTC 2024: ## Salem Villagers Protest for Public Path Through Magnesite Company Land
**Salem, Tamil Nadu, December 16, 2024** – Over 100 villagers from Karuppur and surrounding panchayats staged a protest on Monday outside the Dalmia Magnesite Company in Salem, demanding a public road be built on land originally provided to the company.
The villagers claim that in 1952, they donated land for the construction of a locoline connecting the company to the Karuppur railway station. The company, they allege, promised to return unused land and allow public access to the path. However, with the locoline’s disuse 15 years ago, the villagers now seek the return of the land and the creation of a 20-foot-wide public road.
K.V. Suseenthra Kumar, a Karuppur resident, stated that despite repeated petitions, the company has failed to act. He urged the company to hand over the land to the state government for road construction and to sell any remaining unused land back to the original farmers. The protest underscores a long-standing land dispute between the villagers and the magnesite company.
First Piper 