NAGAPATTINAM: Hundreds of residents of three panchayats in the district protesting against CPCL’s land acquisition for plant expansion stuck to plan and boycotted the general election on Friday. Over the past month, residents of Panangudi, Gopurajapuram and Narimanam staged demonstrations, mounted black flags outside their houses and more recently mailed postcards to the chief electoral officer (CEO) announcing poll boycott over “official apathy” to their demands. Their main demands are fair compensation for the lands parted for the CPCL project and jobs.
“We waited for days for officials such as the district collector and the RDO to invite us over and discuss our demands such as providing compensation and jobs. They, however, didn’t. So we boycotted the election as we believe that our means for livelihood were not respected,” said S Kalalyarasan of Narimanam who parted with an acre of land for CPCL’s refinery expansion.
K Maran, a farmer from Panangudi who gave away three acres for CPCL, said, “Our struggle is not over. We will continue to protest through various means until rightful compensation is paid for the lands we parted with.”