CHENNAI: Naam Tamilar Katchi coordinator Seeman has urged the State government to drop its decision to establish a new SIPCOT industrial estate in the Mahimandalam region of Vellore district, alleging that the project would lead to the destruction of fertile agricultural land and the displacement of farming communities.
In a statement, Seeman criticised the government for moving to acquire farmland in Mahimandalam and neighbouring villages, including Mettupalayam, Thathireddipalli, Ammavarapalli and Balamathur, without adequate consultations with the affected farmers. He described the move as authoritarian and said it ignored the livelihood concerns of families who depend entirely on agriculture.
He warned that the establishment of polluting industries in the region could contaminate land, water and air over a wide area, alleging that lakes, ponds and canals could be polluted by chemical waste. Such contamination, he said, would render water bodies unfit for public use and severely affect hundreds of acres of farmland, apart from forcing indigenous communities to leave their ancestral homes.
Referring to Section 10 of the Land Acquisition Act, which discourages the acquisition of fertile agricultural land for development projects, Seeman questioned the rationale behind proceeding with the proposal. He also accused the DMK of adopting a contradictory stand, recalling its opposition to similar industrial projects on farmland during the previous AIADMK regime.
Calling for an immediate halt to land acquisition in Mahimandalam, Seeman urged the government to refrain from establishing industries on agricultural land in the name of development across the State.