The Hindu Business Line : Land allotment for Jindal plant flayed

Visakhapatnam June 21 The decision of the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet, allotting 1,048 acres to the proposed Jindal alumina refinery project in the S.Kota mandal of Vizianagaram district, has been condemned by the CPI (M) as "utterly undemocratic". The Cabinet announced the decision in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

At a press meet here on Thursday, Ch. Narasinga Rao, Visakhapatnam District Secretary of the CPI (M), said the decision of the State Government was reprehensible, as 96 per cent of the people who participated in the public hearing conducted by the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board at Boddavara village in Vizianagaram district earlier this month had vehemently opposed the proposal to set up the alumina refinery.

Further, the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation, which would have to mine the bauxite and provide raw material to the Jindal refinery had not yet obtained the requisite ecological clearances.

"Under the circumstances, in undue haste the State Cabinet has taken the decision to allot land.," he said.

rehabilitation package

Referring to the rehabilitation package, he said it was grossly inadequate and would render farmers in the area destitute. The offer of Rs 2 lakh per acre for dry land and Rs 2.25 lakh per acre for wetland was way below the prevailing rates.

"Besides, the contention of the Government that most of them are assigned lands does not stand to reason. They have been cultivating the land for years and they cannot be dispossessed to make way for the Jindals. The lands are fertile ones," he said.

The offer of a job to a member of the displaced family, commensurate with his or her qualification, was also not very convincing or satisfactory, he said.

Ch . Narasinga Rao warned the Government that the agitation against the Jindal plant would be intensified, if it did not change its stand. The CPI (M) would solicit the support of other parties and the public in the agitation, he added.

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