CUDDALORE: Scores of residents, including women and children, from villages near Neyveli staged a protest on Wednesday night condemning the Neyveli Lignite Corporation of India Limited (NLCIL) for disconnecting the power supply and water supply to their areas.
This comes after the NLCIL, ahead of a mine expansion project, asked nearly five hundred families residing on the company’s land in ITI Nagar, Tiruvalluvar Nagar, and Sivaji Nagar in Mandarakuppam village to vacate from there, said sources. The families have been residing there for more than three decades.
Sources said that as the villagers refused to vacate, the NLCIL management disconnected the water supply and power supply to the areas two weeks back. On Wednesday, nearly a hundred residents of ITI Nagar protested with lighted torches and candles, demanding immediate restoration of power supply.
Speaking to the media, the residents said, “More than fifty students are appearing for public exams from our area. They have to study without power supply.” They added that they had already protested before the NLCIL and sent petitions to the NLCIL management, District Collector, MLA, and RDO regarding the issue, but no action was taken.
Meanwhile, a source from NLCIL said the lands belong to the company and people were permitted to stay there temporarily. NLCIL also gave them water supply on a “humanitarian” basis, but no power supply was given to them. The insider alleged that the residents used hooks on nearby electricity lines and got power supply, and further said the supply to that line has been disconnected.
Virudachalam Tahsildar Dhanabathy inspected the spot and inquired about the issue. A revenue department source said, “Electricity department is ready to restore supply to those areas, but a ‘no objection certificate’ is needed from NLCIL management, as the lands belong to them.”