Chennai, Sep 21:
The PMK on Sunday condemned the TVK government headed by Vijay for its decision to acquire lands for establishing a SIPCOT complex and for NLC Mines expansion in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu and urged it to abandon the move as it would affect the livelihood of the people.
In a statement here, PMK President and Rajya Sabha member Anbumani Ramadoss warned of organising a massive protest demonstration by mobilising the affected people.
He said the government has issued a notification to acquire an additional 164 acres of land in the Thiyagavalli and Kudikadu areas of Cuddalore district for establishing a new SIPCOT industrial complex, in addition to the 1,097 acres already notified, as well as land for the expansion of NLC mines.
At a time when the entire Cuddalore district is already suffering from land acquisition and environmental damage, repeatedly imposing SIPCOT industrial complexes and coal mines and forcibly acquiring lands was condemnable, he said.
Observing that a SIPCOT industrial complex was already functioning over an area of 2,625 acres in Cuddalore, he said the previous DMK government had decided to establish another SIPCOT complex over 1,119 acres in the nearby Kudikadu and Thiyagavalli areas and issued a Government Order on October 28 last year to acquire 1,097 acres of agricultural land in those areas. While the people have been continuously protesting against this, the present TVK regime has now issued a notification to acquire a total of 164.20 acres of land in Kudikadu and Thiyagavalli villages.
Stating that all these lands had earlier been acquired from members of the public and farmers by two private corporate companies at low prices, Anbumani, who is also a former Union Minister said the people have been demanding that these lands be returned to them. Therefore, the Government’s attempt to acquire these lands itself cannot be accepted.
Although 75% of the land to be acquired under the new notification belongs to large corporations, the TVK government has now confirmed that a new SIPCOT complex will be established over a total area of 1,283 acres, combining the 1,119 acres already notified with the additional 164.20 acres now notified. Tamil Nadu’s largest SIPCOT complex is located at Oragadam over an area of 3,157 acres. The second-largest SIPCOT complex is at Cheyyar, spread over 2,937 acres. The third-largest SIPCOT complex is in Cuddalore, covering 2,625 acres.
If another SIPCOT complex is established over 1,283 acres, Cuddalore will have Tamil Nadu’s largest SIPCOT industrial complex, spread across 3,968 acres. This is not development for Cuddalore district; rather, it will be a disaster. Cuddalore does not need this.
Similarly, the notification also said 68 parcels of land measuring 12.60 acres in Gangaikondan village will be acquired for the expansion of NLC Mine-I, and 77 parcels measuring 3.21 acres in Vanathirayapuram village for the expansion of Mine-I A. All these are residential plots. If these lands are acquired, more than a hundred families could be left without a place to live, the PMK Chief said.
The land, water and air in Cuddalore are being polluted by untreated waste discharged from chemical factories in the Cuddalore SIPCOT complex. As industrial waste has contaminated the water and soil, high levels of dioxin, a toxic substance capable of causing cancer, are reportedly present in the breast milk of women in Cuddalore district and in the tender coconut produced there.
On the other hand, the three million people of Cuddalore district have been affected in one way or another by the NLC coal mines operating in the district. In such a situation, if another SIPCOT complex is established over 1,283 acres, the entire Cuddalore district could turn into a toxic wasteland.
He said the state government must immediately abandon the plan to establish a new SIPCOT complex in Cuddalore district, the expansion projects of NLC Mine-I and Mine-I A, and the notifications for acquiring a total of 1,277 acres of land for these projects.