Opposition to the eight-lane Salem-Chennai green corridor has seen the State government come down hard on protesters. While the administration, after rolling out a compensatory package, claims that only a section of landowners is actually protesting and that it is ready to address all grievances, tensions on the ground continue to mount by the day. The tension in the air is palpable when one steps into any of the villages in Salem district, where a survey for acquiring land for the Salem-Chennai green corridor is on. Black flags flutter in the air, symbolising the resistance to the acquisition. Angry farmers are adamant that they will not allow decades of toil to come to nought. The defiance, coming soon after Thoothukudi erupted over the Sterlite Copper plant, is another thorn in Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami’s side, especially since Salem is his home district, and at stake are two Central government-funded projects — the green corridor and the expansion o...