THOOTHUKUDI: A petition has been submitted to the district collector seeking the government to return the land acquired by SIPCOT for Sterlite copper plant, which has been shut currently, to its former owners.
The petition submitted by Tamil Nadu Makkal Katchi state president SM Gandhi Mallar stated that several acres of lands acquired by SIPCOT for Sterlite Copper plant remain unutilised for more than a decade, adding that the copper smelter plant was shut following the shooting incident. "The people in the villages surrounding the Sterlite Copper have lost their livelihood after giving up their land," he said.
He added that there was disparity in compensation distributed by SIPCOT as farmers in some areas were given Rs 80,000 per acre, while some got `6 lakh per acre. "Currently the market price of the area is Rs 20 lakh per acre," Mallar said.
A farmer who accompanied the activist said that he gave over 15 acres in 2006 and got compensation of Rs 80,000 per acre after six years. "Many of the farmers who gave the land at last were given Rs 6 lakh," he said.
Mallar recalled that the State government had re-conveyed 8,373 acres of agriculture land in Ariyalur in June, which was acquired in 1997 on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO), for establishing Jayankondam Lignite Power Project. "Since the Sterlite Copper plant remains shut, while its expansion project has already been cancelled, the State government should take necessary steps to return the land," Mallar said.