[Onthebarricades] INDIA: Protests against land grabs, Apr-Aug 2008
Andy
ldxar1 at tesco.net
Thu Aug 28 11:59:15 PDT 2008
ON THE BARRICADES: Global Resistance Roundup, April-August 2008
https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/onthebarricades
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/globalresistance/
* Launch of Tata Nano car factory in Singur marked by protests by
dispossessed farmers
Farmers demand land back, blockade plant
* Protests for compensation in the Greater Capital Region: clashes between
farmers and police in which police killed four farmers
* Badalpur village in Uttar Pradesh turned into fortress in land dispute
* 100 arrested at protest against land grab for port at Bhubaneshwar
* Mumbai road blocked by victims of SEZ land grab
* Tamil Nadu farmers demonstrate against land grab for industrial estate
* Protest in Kurnool over broken promises to displaced people
* Posco farming disrupted by shutdown, protests over steel plant land grab
* Kochi meeting hears protest views on grab of temple
* Sikhs protest desecration during eviction, throw stones
* Dharna in Permude, Mangalore, over SEZ land grab
* Opposition parties target land auction
* Mass application for sale deeds in protest at Mittal land grab
* Tamil Nadu protest, arrests over eviction of trader
* Madurai protest: documents symbolically burnt in protest at failure of
land reform
* Tamil Nadu protest: effigy burnt
* Coimbatore road blocked in protest at road building land grab
* Kannada protest over disputed island, water project
* Displaced farmers protest at Kurnool government office
* Kochi: evicted farmers blockade office over jobs promise
* Dharna and roadblock in Hyderabad over SEZ land grab
* Karnataka protest over land grab for bus stand
* Karnataka protest against eviction drive
* Himachal Pradesh villagers protest against water diversion project
* Kurnool protest at land sale at knockdown price
* Kochi port evictees protest
* Punjab farmers protest land grab for thermal plant
* Andhra Pradesh port corridor scheme protested
* Mangalore SEZ protested
* Maharashtra SEZ protested - road blocked
NOTE: SEZ, "Special Economic Zone", refers to specially-built neoliberal
export-production areas similar to the Export Processing Zones in China. A
dharna is a type of sit-down protest.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/22/tata.nano
Protests may delay world's cheapest car
Randeep Ramesh in Delhi
guardian.co.uk,
Friday August 22 2008 15:41 BST
Article history
Ratan Tata says he is concerned at the violence of protests against the
factory. Photograph: AFP/Getty Image
Tata Motors will move production of the world's cheapest car from a new
factory in India's West Bengal state if violent protests by local farmers -
forced to sell their land for the site - continue, its chairman warned
today.
In a blow to the country's image as an emerging centre of manufacturing
might, Ratan Tata told a press conference that demonstrations over the
acquisition of farmland threatened to delay the launch of the Nano,
scheduled for October.
"What has concerned us is the violence, the disruptions, that has led us to
be concerned about the safety of our employees, our equipment and
investment, and of the viability of the process," he said in the state
capital, Kolkata, today.
"We need to protect our people. How would we (be able to) bring our managers
and their families if they are going to get beaten? . If anybody is under
the impression that, because we have made a large investment of 15 billion
rupees (£184m), we would not move, then they are wrong, because we would
move to protect our people."
The Nano, which will be sold at 100,000 rupees (£1,230), was designed to
bring motoring to the country's billion-strong masses.
Although hailed by the world's press this year, the Nano factory has become
a symbol of the simmering confrontation between industry and farmers who are
unwilling to part with land in a nation where two-thirds of the population
depends on agriculture.
In the case of Tata's new car, more than 1,000 acres of luxuriantly fertile
fields in West Bengal's Singur district were acquired by the state
government to set up the Nano plant. The factory will be able to churn out
250,000 cars a year. Thousands of farmers who once raised four crops a year
have been evicted.
When the Guardian visited the site this year it found farmers had committed
suicide after losing their land and another protestor who had discovered the
body of his daughter inside the factory site, strangled and burned.
The heavy-handed actions have resulted in repeated clashes - this week a
strike shut the factory and thousands marched, blocking access to the site.
The backlash is embarrassing for West Bengal's communist government, which
has been in power for more than three decades and saw the Nano project as
key to rebranding itself as a regime friendly to capitalism.
Some analysts say Tata may be using the threat to force the state government
to face down the protests, something it has been noticeably reluctant to do
since losing crucial local elections. Opposition parties demand the return
of 400 acres of land, which the company says is impossible.
"Tata say they have no Plan B. But the factory is nearly complete and the
money is spent in West Bengal. If they start again somewhere else it will
take time and there will be a cost implication. However Nano will be
loss-making at this price so Tata may save some money in that way," said
Mahantesh Sabarad of Mumbai's Centrum Broking.
Commentators say that, whatever the calculation, there is no doubt this is a
"huge blow" for West Bengal, which has long been plagued by labour unrest.
"It's disastrous. The real problem is the way that land was acquired - by
government strong-arming people into selling their land," said Gurcharan
Das, a prominent business columnist. "I think the real question here is
whether Indians want to remain starving peasants or part of an urban
proletariat. My bet is the latter."
Economists say that at the heart of the argument is that land is one of
India's scarcest resources, and its acquisition is key to balancing
industrial growth with the needs of rural farmers.
The tensions signal an economic transformation that is likely to be as
jarring as China's - which has seen a number of "peasant revolts" over land
grabbed for new industries. However some say the Indian system will give
rise to a "negotiated industrialisation".
"I think we are seeing local people having a say in the process. And
sometimes projects are pulled. Just recently 11 dams were cancelled after
local protests in Sikkim. Industrialisation has been violent in other
countries but I think Indian democracy can accommodate it without the
violence," said Sunita Narain, head of Delhi's Centre for Science and
Technology.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article4602376.ece
August 25, 2008
Indian farmers' anger poses threat to launch of the Tata Nano
Local politicians have called for an indefinite siege of the factory and
analysts fear the Nano launch will be delayed
Rhys Blakely
The high-profile launch of the world's cheapest car - the £1,250 Tata Nano -
was in jeopardy last night after tens of thousands of protesters gathered at
the factory being built to produce the vehicle, complaining that the land
had been taken illegally from small farmers.
Demonstrators blocked roads leading to the plant at Singur, about 20 miles
from Calcutta in the northern Indian state of West Bengal. About 4,000 riot
police were drafted in to protect the factory, which is due to start
producing the Nano this autumn. Security was tight and water cannons were on
standby amid fears that the protests could turn violent.
Activists at Singur said that they would call off their protest only if the
state government handed back about 400 acres to farmers - a move that could
derail the Nano project.
Tensions in the area earmarked for the Nano factory have been simmering for
two years amid allegations that the communist-led state government of West
Bengal had seized land illegally from local small farmers.
Related Links
Nano costs could leave Tata out of pocket
Tata's little car makes big impact
Mamata Banerjee, the head of the main opposition Trinamool Congress party in
West Bengal, called for an indefinite siege of the factory. Farmers have not
accepted any compensation. Kajal Das, the wife of a farmer who lost land to
the project, said: "We have gathered today to get back our land. Money
cannot compensate our loss."
The demonstrations threaten to ruin the commercial debut of the Nano, one of
the most closely watched launches in the car industry in decades. At its
unveiling in January, the Nano was lauded as marking a revolution in the
industry, allowing millions in India's emerging middle classes to buy a car
for the first time.
On Friday, Ratan Tata, the Tata chief executive, said that he was ready to
abandon the Singur plant if the long-running series of demonstrations did
not abate. Such a decision would involve the company writing off up to $350
million (£189 million) in investment.
Already there are fears that the car's ultra-low-cost business model could
be scrambled by sharp increases in raw materials and that Tata will make
heavy losses on the first batch of Nanos sold. Indian analysts forecast that
Tata will need to produce nearly 400,000 Nanos a year to make a profit, well
above a planned initial capacity of 250,000. Any delay to production
capacity coming online, therefore, could prove hugely expensive for the
conglomerate.
Tata has not commented on the margins that it expects to make on the Nano.
It has said only that the car will be profitable over the long term.
The economics underpinning the Nano make it especially vulnerable to price
movements in the commodity markets. Since Tata began to develop the Nano in
2003, raw material costs have increased from about 13 per cent to about 23
per cent of its price before taxes, according to an estimate by Global
Insight, the consultants.
By contrast, raw materials account for about 7 per cent of the cost of an
average American car - or about $1,600, up from about $800 five years ago.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/9/story.cfm?c_id=9&objectid=10528826&ref=rss
Protestors tell Tata - 'give us back our land'
8:27AM Monday August 25, 2008
Protestors block Calcutta-Delhi national highway during a peaceful
sit-in-demonstration in front of Tata Motors small car factory at Singur.
Photo / AP
CALCUTTA - Thousands of angry farmers protested outside a factory that
manufactures the world's cheapest car in India's West Bengal state
yesterday, to demand the return of land they say was taken from them without
proper compensation.
The farmers claim that India's Tata Motors has not paid them proper
compensation for the 997 acres (405 hectares) the company acquired in
Singur, a village 20 miles (30 kilometres) northwest of Calcutta, the state
capital.
The land is now the site of a factory producing the Nano automobile, which
is scheduled to go on sale by the end of the year for US$2,500. Repeated
protests, however, could delay the launch.
Nearly 3,000 armed police surrounded the factory Sunday as thousands of
farmers gathered, but no violence had been reported.
"We have water cannons ready to cope with any eventuality," said the area's
superintendent of police, Rajiv Mishra.
Protesters with posters, banners and flags lined both sides of the highway
leading to the factory.
"We want our land back. Money cannot compensate our losses. We are farmers
and we want to live by farming," said Bibekanada Das, a farmer who said he
lost about two acres (less than a hectare) of land.
"The Tatas should bow down before people's power and return the land," Mamta
Banerjee, chief of the opposition Trinamool Congress party, told reporters
as she joined the protesters.
Banerjee's party has led the fight against Tata and last week called for the
company to return 400 acres (160 hectares) of land to the farmers.
On Friday the chairman of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata, threatened to move the
factory out of West Bengal if the protests persist.
"If the state for any reason ... feels that we are exploiting them, if that
is the feeling, we will exit," Tata told reporters in Calcutta.
"We can't operate the plant with police protection," he said, adding that
protesters had attacked Tata employees and stolen equipment from the factory
site.
Tata did not say when he would decide whether to leave the state, and did
not address how the possible move would affect production of the Nano.
West Bengal has been the centre of a national debate about acquiring
farmland for factories in India, where about two-thirds of the more than 1
billion people live off agriculture.
The controversy came to a head last year when police gunned down 14
protesters in Nandigram, a nearby district in West Bengal, causing an outcry
that eventually scuttled a planned special economic zone designed to draw
foreign investment.
Tata has the support of the Communist government that has ruled West Bengal
for three decades, but a coalition of opposition parties has strongly fought
the project because it opposes using fertile farmland for industry.
Tata Group, founded in 1868, is one of India's largest business
conglomerates, with interests spanning steel, software services, hotels,
chemicals and insurance.
- AP
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/080824/business/india_economy_auto_politics_unrest_tata_nano
Siege protest at India's Nano car plant
Module body
Sun Aug 24, 8:50 AM
SINGUR, India (AFP) - About 40,000 protesters on Sunday surrounded the
Indian factory slated to produce the world's cheapest car, alleging land for
the site was forcibly taken from local farmers, police said.
Demonstrators blocked main roads near the plant at Singur, 35 kilometres (20
miles) northwest of the state capital Kolkata, as riot police protected the
factory premises, authorities said.
"Security has been tightened in and around Tata's small car project. More
than 4,000 policemen have been deployed," Raj Kanojia, a senior police
official of West Bengal state, told AFP.
The gates of the factory, which is still under construction, have been
fenced off, Kanojia said, as an October deadline for the first 2,500-dollar
Nano car to roll off the assembly line appeared under severe threat.
Kanojia put the number of protesters at 40,000, though activists said they
expected as many as 200,000 to join the action in the coming days.
West Bengal opposition chief Mamata Banerjee, who called the protest,
demanded that the land -- much of which has not been built on -- be returned
to farmers.
"Our party will fight to the finish to get the land back," Banerjee said to
thunderous applause on Sunday.
"Our agitation will remain peaceful unless we are provoked".
On Friday, Ratan Tata, whose Tata Motors is India's top vehicle-maker,
warned he would move the plant out of the state if the demonstrations kept
up, although his company has already invested 350 million dollars in the
project.
But activists at Singur say they will only call off protests if the
government hands back 400 acres (160 hectares) forcibly taken from farmers,
who have not accepted any compensation.
"The government acquired 997 acres of land for the project. The project
needs about 600 acres," said Partha Chatterjee, a senior opposition
politician.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, whose
communist-controlled government brought the plant to the state, said the
protests would fail.
"The project will be a reality," said Bhattacharjee late Saturday. "Nobody
can obstruct it.
"It is totally impractical to give back the land as demanded. Returning the
400 acres means scrapping the entire project."
Tensions were high across West Bengal, which has been at the forefront of
recent battles over land rights in India.
The struggles have pitted the interests of farmers who say they will starve
without their land against those of business and India's government, which
say the country needs to industrialise rapidly.
For more than two years the Tata factory site has seen protests by activists
and villagers who say many poor farmers were forced to part with their land.
Elsewhere in the state, at Nandigram village, where the state government
acquired land for a petrochemical hub, police in March 2007 shot dead 14
farmers opposing the move.
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=398385
Mamata kicks off indefinite protest at Singur
IANS Sunday 24th August, 2008
Opposition Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Sunday kicked off an
indefinite protest by thousands near the Tata Motors small car factory site
in Singur in West Bengal to demand return of 400 acres of farmland acquired
for the project.
The Trinamool chief reached Singur at 2 p.m., accompanied by Samajwadi Party
leader Amar Singh, social activist Medha Patkar, former Congress leader
Soumen Mitra, Krishi Jami Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee (Save Farmland
Committee) Convenor Purnendu Bose and other political and social activists.
Banerjee appealed to the protesters to abstain from any violence.
'I would like to request all of you to abstain from any violence. This
agitation is for the cause of common people,' she said.
Around 200,000 people were expected to join the demonstration organised
mainly by the Trinamool Congress, said Becharam Manna, a farm leader.
Security forces were deployed to prevent possible violence at Singur, 40 km
from here.
The Trinamool-led Krishijami Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee, which opposes
the takeover of farmland for the Tata project, has called for indefinite
protests at the Nano factory site from Sunday.
The protesters want the Left Front government to return 400 acres of the
total taken from what they say are 'unwilling farmers' to build ancillary
industries adjacent to the main auto plant.
A total of 997.11 acre was acquired for the project, of which 691.66 acre
belong to farmers who have given their land willingly.
'I am going to express my solidarity with the people of Singur. The Tatas
should not use their corporate power for wrong purposes,' Patkar said.
The protesters have set up 21 camps around the factory site.
Security arrangements have been tightened in and around Singur, said
Inspector General of Police (law and order) Raj Kanojia.
'We have deployed around 3,000 policemen. But they will not do anything
unless the situation arises,' said Rajiv Mishra, the Hooghly district police
superintendent.
Tata Motors took up the project to build the small car factory in Singur two
years back. Since then the firm has faced resistance from sections of the
farmers and political parties over the farmland acquisition.
'We want our land back and we will continue to agitate till our demand is
met,' said Laxman Das, a farmer in Singur.
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=398550
Trinamool protest chokes highway in West Bengal
IANS Monday 25th August, 2008
The indefinite siege by West Bengal's opposition Trinamool Congress in front
of the Tata Motors small car factory site in Singur Monday caused a traffic
gridlock on the national highway and hampered the movement of vehicles
entering the state.
'There's a huge traffic snarl on NH-2 because of the Trinamool Congress
agitation. Several long distance vehicles coming from other states were
diverted,' Hooghly district police superintendent Rajiv Mishra told IANS.
He said the entire Durgapur expressway in Hooghly district was clogged due
to the siege.
'Many trucks had to stop before entering the district,' Mishra said.
The Trinamool-led Krishijami Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee (KJJRC), which
opposed the takeover of farmland for the Tata project, had called for an
indefinite protest at the Nano factory site from Sunday.
The protesters are demanding the return of 400 acres of land which they
allege was forcibly taken from 'unwilling farmers' to build ancillary
industries adjacent to the Tata Motors' main plant.
A total of 997.11 acres was acquired for the project, of which 691.66 acres
belonged to farmers who gave their land willingly.
'We don't accept this claim that the traffic jam was caused because of our
political programme. We are constantly allowing all emergency vehicles
through the Durgapur expressway. But we would request people to kindly bear
with us during this crucial point of our movement,' senior Trinamool
Congress leader Madan Mitra said.
He said the problem of Singur farmers, whose land was forcibly acquired by
the state government, was much more critical than the troubled passengers
who were stuck on the way.
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-5513.html
Farmers block train movement to protest Singur land acquisition
Singur, Aug 2 : A 500-strong mob, led by local Trinamool Congress leader
Tapan Dasgupta, blocked train movement in the Howrah-Bardhaman section for
about two hours today to demand return of the land acquired 'forcibly' for
the Tata Motors small car project at Singur.
Dhaniakhali police station Officer Incharge Biswajeet Ghoshal said farmers
raised a blockade at the Belmuri level crossing from 0900 hours to 1100
hours following which the Howrah-bound Rajdhani Express, Benaras-Howrah
Bibhuti Express and several local trains were delayed.
Later, police and GRP personnel managed to lift the blockade and the train
movement was resumed.
The agitators also protested against the nosedive in prices of potatoes
which was resulting in huge losses for the farmers.
The Singur Krishi Jami Raksha Committee (SKJRC) announced that it would
organise a rally throughout the Hooghly district tomorrow to demand the
return of the land acquired for the Tata Motors project.
They would also organise road blockades throughout the district from 1000
hours to 1200 hours tomorrow in support of their demand.
The outfit had put up posters and banners at various areas, asking the
workers and other service and construction engineers arriving here from
outside, not to work for the project.
Meanwhile, the Hooghly district committee of the CPI(M) announced to
organise a rally this evening in support of the small car project.
Singur CPI(M) leader Dibakar Das said, ''The people of this region want
industrialisation. The Tata Motors project is being opposed only by those
who do not want the rapid development of this area.'' But SKJRC convener
Becharam Manna said the movement would be intensified unless the land,
'forcibly' acquired from the farmers, was returned.
Hooghly Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajeev Mishra said huge contingents of
security forces had been deployed in and around the Tata Motors project site
as well as on all the roads leading up to the factory.
''Altogether 800 police personnel have been deployed to provide security to
the workers. Besides, plain clothes policemen have been patrolling the
entire region. Security at the Singur and Kamarkundu railway stations has
also been stepped up for the safety of the workforce arriving here from
various parts of the state,'' the SP added.
Reports have been pouring in of the workers and security guards at the Tata
Motors being allegedly assualted and threatened by the SKJRC and Trinamool
activists.
On Tuesday, construction engineer Manish Khatua was left critically injured
after he was severely assaulted. The SKJRC and Trinamool cadres were also
allegedly threatening the workforce to leave the place immediately or ''face
the consequences''.
--- UNI
http://story.indiagazette.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/701ee96610c884a6/id/389822/cs/1/
Protests continue in Singur over land row
India Gazette
Sunday 3rd August, 2008
(IANS)
Protests against Tata Motors' small car project at Singur for allegedly
forceful acquisition of farmland continued Sunday as the Congress blocked
roads and a Trinamool Congress-supported group took out a big rally in the
town.
Demanding that the West Bengal government and the Tata Motors return 400
acres taken from 'unwilling' farmers, around 1,000 rallyists covered a
two-km stretch of Singur - an affluent rural belt of Hooghly district -
raising slogans against the state's Communist Party of India-Marxist
(CPI-M)-led Left Front government.
'We are not against industrialisation. We just don't want industries to come
up on fertile land. We want factories on infertile land, low lands and
unutilised lands of closed down factories,' Singur Krishi Jami Raksha
Committee (Singur Save Farmland Committee) convenor Becharam Manna told
reporters.
Referring to Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant's remarks that the
company would continue in Singur, 40 km from here, as long as its patience
did not wear off, Manna said: 'The LF government is responsible for
investors backing out.'
Manna said had the government not given fertile land to Tata Motors, the
situation would not have taken a turn for the worse.
Congress activists led by assembly member Abdul Mannan set up road blocks at
various spots of the busy Durgapur Expressway, affecting vehicular movement.
Security has been beefed up in Singur after the committee stepped up its
agitation since July 27 and ordered workers at the factory who come from
outside Singur not to report for duty.
The situation worsened when an engineer of the construction firm Shapoorji
Pallonji was roughed up by women protesters Tuesday night.
A day later, Ravi Kant said in Mumbai there were 'elements' trying to create
tension, and conceded the situation had turned bad in Singur.
On Friday, peasants clashed with the police after a handful of locals tried
to break the factory wall with shovels. Two security men were also beaten
up, but no police complaint has been lodged so far.
Committee members squatted on the railway tracks Saturday, detaining several
mail and express trains.
Following resentment among a substantial section of peasants from whom the
state government has acquired the lands for the project, the committee along
with the civil society has spearheaded an agitation since mid-2006 against
setting up of the plant.
The government acquired 997.11 acres, triggering protests across the three
panchayats - Gopalnagar, KGD (Kamarkundu, Gopalnagar, Doluigachcha) and
Beraberi - that comprise the project area.
The Singur factory is working on manufacturing Nano, universally hailed as a
feat in automobile engineering and expected to be the world's cheapest car
costing just Rs.100,000 (less than $2,500).
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?col=§ion=subcontinent&xfile=data/subcontinent/2008/August/subcontinent_August703.xml
India state starts talks to end Tata car plant protests
(Reuters)
20 August 2008
PrintE-mail
KOLKATA, India- Officials in an eastern Indian state began negotiations with
opposition politicians on Wednesday to end protests against a Tata Motors
factory building the Nano, billed the world's cheapest car.
The 100,000-rupee ($2,380) snub-nosed Nano was unveiled in January to a
popstar reception, but violent protests and political opposition against
land seizures for the factory in West Bengal state threatened to delay its
long-awaited launch.
Protesters have occasionally tried to stop work at the factory and fought
with workers. An engineer had to be taken to hospital after his car was
stoned last month.
West Bengal's communist government began talking to leaders of Trinamool
Congress, the state's main opposition, which has been championing a movement
by farmers unwilling to give their land.
"We have got a letter from the Tatas as well for a solution," Mamata
Banerjee, the Trinamool's chief, said.
State government officials said Wednesday's talks could set the stage for a
tripartite meeting soon between the government, Trinamool and Tata.
Tata Motors, a unit of Indian conglomerate Tata group, plans to launch the
Nano later this year from its new factory at a 1,000-acre (400-ha) complex
in Singur, a cluster of villages near Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal
state.
The protests that Tata faces reflect a larger stand-off between industry in
India and farmers unwilling to part with land in a country where two-thirds
of a billion-plus population depend on agriculture.
For Tata, trouble started after the communist government took over the
farmland for the factory. The state offered compensation in return, but some
villagers complained they did not receive their dues.
Others refused to obey the state and are declining compensation, many of
them farmers with smaller land holdings.
In all, around 400 acres of seized land are still being fiercely disputed,
threatening the planned October launch of the Nano, which is timed to
coincide with India's festival season.
Relocation of units
Banerjee said she could talk to Tata provided the company agreed to
relocate the ancillary units out of the disputed land.
"If the ancillary units are shifted to land available nearby the crisis can
be resolved," Banerjee told reporters on Tuesday.
But Tata Ryerson, a Tata group company which is investing more than $20
million for an ancillary unit to supply Nano components, said relocating
would be impractical.
"Any relocation would make it impossible for us to hold the cost line and
consequently the 100,000-rupee price line," Sandipan Chakraborty, managing
director of Tata Ryerson, told Reuters.
http://story.indiagazette.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/701ee96610c884a6/id/396882/cs/1/
Activists in Mumbai protest TATA's upcoming port in Orissa
India Gazette
Wednesday 20th August, 2008
(ANI)
Mumbai, August 20 : Greenpeace activists in Mumbai staged a demonstration
outside the headquarters of Tata company on Wednesday against a port that
the company is planning to set up in Orissa.
The activists claimed that the building of the port would adversely affect
the turtle population in the region.
The building of the mega port at Dhamra in Orissa will destroy the turtles
taking an entire fragile and significant eco system with them.
"He (Ratan Tata) made a commitment that the Dhamra port which Tata Steel is
building right now in Orissa, if there is any likelihood of damage to the
environment, he will reconsider the location of the port. There is every
evidence now which proves that it will not only push turtles one step closer
to extinction, it will also upset the fragile bio diversity there," said
Areeba Hamid, Campaigner.
The protesters said they had written numerous letters to Ratan Tata,
Chairman of the Tata Group requesting him to change the location of the port
but in vain and therefore they were forced to form a human chain in front of
Tata headquarters.
Around 90,000 Tata customers and over 200 international scientists and
academics and other international groups have written to Ratan Tata asking
him to change the location of the port.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BOM54906.htm
Protesters clash with police near India car plant
21 Aug 2008 11:55:02 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Sujoy Dhar
KOLKATA, India, Aug 21 (Reuters) - At least 1,000 protesters opposing the
seizure of farmland for a Tata Motors plant, due to assemble what has been
billed the world's cheapest car, clashed with police in eastern India on
Thursday.
Protesters said several people were beaten up by police when they tried to
march towards the plant in Singur, an hour's drive from Kolkata. Police said
no one was injured in the demonstration.
The 100,000-rupee ($2,380) snub-nosed Nano was unveiled in January to a
popstar reception, but violent protests and political opposition against
land seizures for the factory in West Bengal state threatened to delay its
long-awaited launch.
"No one was injured. They blocked a highway near the project for hours and
then dispersed," senior police official Raj Kanojia said.
The protesters were organised by supporters of India's ruling Congress
party, which opposes the communist-run government in West Bengal.
TV footage showed protesters with sticks clashing with police.
"Police rained batons on us leaving dozens of us injured," said Abdul
Mannan, the Congress party leader who led the march.
The protests that Tata faces reflect a larger stand-off between industry in
India and farmers unwilling to part with land in a country where two-thirds
of the billion-plus population depend on agriculture.
In Singur, protesters have occasionally tried to stop work at the factory
and fought with workers. An engineer had to be taken to hospital after his
car was stoned last month.
West Bengal's communist government on Tuesday began talking to leaders of
Trinamool Congress, the state's main opposition, which has been championing
a movement by farmers unwilling to give their land.
Tata Motors, a unit of conglomerate Tata group, plans to launch the Nano
later this year from its new factory at a 1,000-acre (400-ha) complex in
Singur.
http://www.mathaba.net/rss/?x=602166
India: 4 killed, 50 injured in farmers' protest in Greater Noida
Posted: 2008/08/14
From: MNN
Four persons were killed and 50 others, including 15 cops, injured in police
firing and clashes on Wednesday after agitating farmers demanding adequate
compensation for their acquired land in National Capital Region (NCR)
Greater Noida, turned violent.
Farmers were on protest mode for the past few days demanding enhanced
compensation for their land acquired in 2006 by the Uttar Pradesh government
and the crowd turned violent this afternoon pelting stones at policemen.
Security personnel present at the spot, who tried to control the mob,
resorted to baton charge and lobbed teargas shells to rein in the mob, SSP
Noida R K Chaturvedi told reporters.
As violence continued, police opened fire. "Four persons were killed and
about 50 people were injured in the incident," Chaturvedi said.
At least 15 police personnel, including Chaturvedi, were injured in the
stone pelting, Greater Noida District Magistrate S K Sharma said.
There were unconfirmed reports that there was firing from the protesters'
side also. --IRNA
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/347230.html
Farmers protest 'land grab', Maya village turns fortress
AanchalBansal
Posted online: Monday, August 11, 2008 at 0205 hrs Print Email
BADALPUR (UP), AUGUST 10: Sealed from all sides, Badalpur village, nearly 35
km from Delhi and better known as UP Chief Minister Mayawati's parental
village, resembled a fortress on Sunday. With Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders
threatening to enter the village to support farmers of the Kisan Sangharsh
Committee protesting against the rate of compensation offered by the
Mayawati Government for acquiring nearly 400 hectare of land in the area.
About 100 police personnel deployed by the Noida police kept vigil
throughout the day.
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Nearly 800 farmers from Badalpur and three other villages - Bishnuli,
Sadulpur and Achenja - have been protesting against the state Government's
step to acquire land for developing a green belt of 400 hectare around a
recreation centre being built by Mayawati on a property spread across 47
bighas in the village. While Badalpur alone contributes 230 hectare, the
other three contribute around 170 hectare. While the Government is offering
the farmers Rs 711 per square metre, they claim that the market rate is Rs
4,500-5,000 per square metre.
"There was no permission to hold any demonstration or agitation in the area
so we had to impose restrictions. We had deployed police personnel and vans
on all routes leading to the village right from the Delhi-UP border," said
SSP R K Chaturvedi, adding that the police arrested four MPs and three MLAs
of the SP near Ghazipur Sabzi Mandi. The SP leaders taken into custody
included Dharmendar Yadav, Ashok Chauhan and Madan Chauhan amongst others.
While the administration met with the agitating group of about 200-odd
farmers to find a solution, the situation remained tense with talks being
scheduled for Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Sangharsh Committee has said the
farmers will not ally with any political party.
Jasvir Numberdar, the head of the agitating group, said, "This is our fight
with the administration and Mayawati because they are taking our land by
paying less and not offering any employment security. We do not want any
support from any political party."
With the Congress and BSP drifting apart after the former joined hands with
Mulayam Singh Yadav and the third front declaring Mayawati as the leader,
the protesting farmers have found support from both the Congress and SP.
The Noida police had earlier foiled a protest rally planned by the Congress
to support the agitating farmers by arresting Congress general secretary
Digvijay Singh, party MP Sachin Pilot and UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi
on July 29 at the Delhi-UP border when they were on their way to join a
rally organised by the protesting committee.
Triggered by the Congress support and agitation on July 29, the Government
has now set up base camps to give out the compensation for the land.
According to the figures given by the Dadri Tehsil, 575 of the 800 farmers
have come forward so far.
BSP's district head Kartar Singh whose residence alone was fortified by
about 25 police personnel, said, "The agitation is unjustified as it is
being fuelled by rival parties and the property dealer lobby. We are
convincing people to come forward."
© 2008: Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd. All rights reserved
throughout the world.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1180378
Cong plans protest outside Maya home
Javed M Ansari
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 03:31 IST
NEW DELHI: The Congress plans to take its battle against Mayawati to the
Uttar Pradesh chief minister's house. Quite literally.
On Tuesday, the party plans to demonstrate outside her ancestral home in
Badalpur village in Guatam Bodhnagar near Delhi against the UP government's
plans to forcibly acquire farmland. Coming close on the heels of the
confrontation between the two parties during last week's vote of confidence,
the move is likely to escalate tension.
Digvijay Singh, AICC general secretary in charge of UP, Rita Bahuguna, UPCC
chief, and Congress MP Sachin Pilot will lead the demonstration. According
to the Congress, she has built a palatial home over 47 bighas and the state
government is now in the process of acquiring hundreds of bighas from nearby
villages at throwaway prices for a picnic spot. Villagers, protesting the
acquisition, have set up a Village Sangharsh Samiti.
The Congress has linked up with the Sangharsh Samiti and plans to cash in on
the issue against the CM. The BSP chief is already under investigation by
the CBI for accumulating wealth in excess of her known sources of income.
http://www.dawn.com/2008/04/28/rss.htm#20
Indian villagers protest deep-sea port, 100 arrested BHUBANESWAR, April 28
(Reuters): Authorities in eastern India arrested at least 100 villagers and
deployed a huge police force to quell a protest against a proposed deep-sea
port, officials said on Monday. Villagers in Orissa state, fearing they will
lose their land without adequate compensation, forced officials to suspend
construction work late on Sunday in Dhamra, where India is planning to build
one of its biggest ports. (Posted @ 14:45 PST )
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/18/stories/2008061855411200.htm
SEZ: Raigad farmers continue protest
Special Correspondent
One farmer injured in lathicharge
Government went back on its word: protesters
MUMBAI: Farmers affected by the Reliance group's Mumbai Special Economic
Zone (MSEZ) blocked the Mumbai-Goa highway at Vashi Naka near Pen in Raigad
district for over two hours on Tuesday alleging that the government went
back on its assurances.
The protesters led by senior Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) leader N.D.
Patil were later arrested.
According to Vaishali Patil of the SEZ Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti, over 100
protesters were arrested by the police and released later. While those
arrested were being brought to the police station, farmers protested and
there was a lathicharge by the police in which one farmer was injured.
"Exclude 22 villages"
Ms. Patil said that last year the government assured farmers that 22
villages in Pen taluka would be excluded from the MSEZ. These villages are
in the command area of the Hetawane dam and the Irrigation Department had
agreed that these same villages could not be acquired for the MSEZ. It had
also issued a letter to the District Collector in this regard.
Ms. Patil said the government had not yet notified the exclusion of these
villages. In protest, N.D. Patil will go on a hunger strike on July 24.
Land acquisition
The land acquisition process for the MSEZ was still continuing despite
opposition from the people, she said. Reliance had acquired barely 20 per
cent of the land for the project, she said. Farmers also protested the fact
that the government last month approved the rehabilitation package announced
by Reliance.
The MSEZ is offering Rs.5 lakh an acre of varkas (unproductive) land and
Rs.10 lakh an acre of paddy land.
The farmers say that when they are opposed to the project, why should the
government even consider the rehabilitation package.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/17/stories/2008061752290300.htm
Farmers protest land acquisition for SIPCOT
Staff Reporter
They urge the administration to drop the move
Rights: Members of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam staging a demonstration in
Tuticorin on Monday. - Photo: N. Rajesh
Tuticorin: Farmers affiliated to Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam staged a
demonstration in front of the Collectorate here on Monday.
They urged the district administration to drop the proposed move to acquire
agricultural land at Valasamudram, Sinthalakattai and Venkateswarapuram
areas for the expansion of SIPCOT Industrial Estate.
M. Saravanan, president of Valasamudram village panchayat, said that the
acquisition of 2,083 acres from the region would jeopardise the livelihood
of the farmers since they were been able to get attractive remuneration from
the cultivation of pulses, chilly and vegetables, for the past few decades.
K. Kanagaraj, district secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist), and
A. Mohanraj, district secretary of Communist Party of India, spoke.
A group of residents from Vallinayakapuram submitted a memorandum to the
Collector (in-charge), P. Anbarasu, urging the administration to restore bus
services from Tuticorin to Vilathikulam through their village.
According to them, both the state-owned as well as private public transport
buses were not plying through the route for the last 27 days.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/22/stories/2008052250230300.htm
Protest against SIPCOT expansion plans
Staff Reporter
ERODE: Residents of villages around SIPCOT industrial estate in Perundurai
staged a day-long fast on Wednesday protesting against the estate expansion
plans.
The residents, the majority of whom were from Kambuliampatty village, said
if the State Government went ahead with its plans to expand the estate by
1,256 acres, they would be affected the most, as they had already lost their
land and livelihood when the Government set up the estate.
Further, after the Government set up the estate and industries established
factories there, the water quality had taken a turn for the worse.
For, the 72 dyeing and processing factories, 18 chemical factories and
others, the villagers alleged, let out untreated effluents.
The land too was affected as 50 acres had been allotted for use as landfill.
Such pollution of water, land and air had made life difficult for them, they
said.
In their estimate, the expansion plan would affect 3,500 persons in 1,000
families that were spread across 1,500 acres.
Nearly 800 acres of fertile agriculture lands, 271 farmers, 1,500
agriculture labourers, 10,000 coconut trees, 5,000 cattle would also stand
affected, they claimed.
The villagers suggested that the Government could instead use 720 acres of
land and THADCO shed on around 200 acres that hitherto remain unused.
Urging the Government to reconsider the decision, the villager said if their
pleas went unheeded, they would, as next step, court arrest.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/17/stories/2008061754530500.htm
Project-affected stage protest
Special Correspondent
KURNOOL: The members of families displaced by the Srisailam project staged a
demonstration at Pothireddypadu in Kurnool district on Monday resenting the
delay in giving jobs to the victims as promised earlier.
Nearly 700 victims staged a demonstration urging the government to implement
the GO No. 98. They said the displaced families in Mahabubnagar district
were given employment but the families in Kurnool were neglected.
CPI (M) district secretary T. Shadrak said the government had taken the
displaced families for a ride by not giving to them what was promised
earlier. He said the sacrifices of the displaced families should not be
ignored as they gave up everything including hearth and home.
He said all parties would support the victims. Association president
Kesavulu and others were present.
http://www.rxpgnews.com/business/Posco-protests-cripple-Orissas-betel-leaf-farming_33323.shtml
Posco protests cripple Orissa's betel leaf farming
May 21, 2007 - 9:24:05 AM
Posco wants over 4,000 acres of land for the project. While 430 acres is
private land, the rest belongs to the government. The state government
recently provided 1,500 acres to the company on paper. However, the company
is yet to get its physical possession.
By Jatindra Dash, IANS, [RxPG] Jagatsinghpur -, May 21 - As thousands of
people continue their stir against the proposed Posco steel plant to protest
displacement, betel leaf farming - the main economic activity in the area -
has been severely affected.
Orissa's betel leaf, especially the 'kujang pan' variety, is popularly not
only in different parts of India but is also exported to other countries
like Pakistan and the Middle East. But its cultivation is now under threat.
Posco, one of the world's biggest steel makers, signed a deal with the state
government in June 2005 to set up a plant near the port town of Paradeep in
this coastal district, some 120 km from Bhubaneswar, by 2016. But since then
over 20,000 people from around 15 nearby villages, including Dhinikia, Gada
Kujang and Nuagaon, have been protesting the project saying it will take
away their homes and their betel leaf farms.
Villagers have erected at least nine wooden gates in the Dhinikia and Gada
Kujang panchayats to prevent government and company officials from entering
into these areas, virtually amounting to an economic blockade.
'Even betel leaf farmers who have chosen to stay away from the protests are
not getting access to their farms because they need to cross the entry
gates. As a result, betel leaf farming has been severely damaged,' says
Kasinath Mudli of Patna village.
More than 400 families in the region depend on the betel leaf business.
While in other regions of the state the farmers produce green betel leaf,
kujang cultivators grow a yellowish variety. There are more than 50 betel
marts in the Posco-affected regions.
But growers have sustained huge losses because traders have not been able to
enter the villages nor have local farmers been able to go out to sell their
product. Some anti-Posco activists have also destroyed the betel vine marts
owned by pro-Posco groups.
Many women who were traditionally engaged in the plucking and packing of
betel leaf have now been taking part in the anti-Posco movement.
'The livelihood of hundreds of betel farmers has been completely paralysed
due to the stir, the erection of entry gates and the economic blockade in
the Posco affected area by protesters since one year,' said B.N. Naik,
president of Kujang Pan Farmer's Association, told IANS.
Farmers send nearly two truckloads of betel leaves out of the region every
week.
Betel leaves produced in the region are not only popular in the state but
also in other parts of the country such as Mumbai, Solapur, Varnasi,
Ahmedabad, Kolkata and New Delhi.
'Some Mumbai-based betel leaf traders even export kujang pan to Pakistan,
Singapore, Thailand and the Middle East,' said Naik.
'This area boasts of nearly 400 odd betel leaf farms. The total betel leaf
business in the region could be nearly Rs.80-100 million annually,' Naik
said.
Posco wants over 4,000 acres of land for the project. While 430 acres is
private land, the rest belongs to the government. The state government
recently provided 1,500 acres to the company on paper. However, the company
is yet to get its physical possession.
While Posco says the plant would affect only 500 families, protesters say
the figure is much higher.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/06/stories/2008050650650200.htm
Protest against land acquisition
Staff Reporter
KOCHI: A meeting was held by District Collector M. Beena on Monday to hear
the objections and demands being made by the authorities of a temple against
the acquisition of part of its land for the highway connectivity of the
proposed Vallarpadam International Container Terminal.
The temple situated on the land owned by FACT at Amabalamedu has protested
the acquisition on the ground that it would lose its compound wall, a bhajan
math, where the temple priest lives, and the banyan tree within its premises
in the acquisition process.
The temple authorities demanded adequate compensation for the loss of
compound wall and bhajan math as also additional charges towards meeting the
expenses of felling and removing the banyan tree.
Dr. Beena told the temple authorities that adequate compensation, as per the
guidelines set by the government, would be paid.
She, however, said that it would be difficult to meet the temple's demand to
be paid the value of the land to be acquired. Since the land belongs to
FACT, a public sector undertaking, technically there was no need to pay land
value, the Collector said.
The temple authorities agreed to get back to the Collector within two days
after placing the outcome of the meeting before the temple committee to be
convened on Tuesday.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/02/stories/2008050261870300.htm
Sikhs protest against alleged blasphemy
NEW DELHI: A large number of Sikhs staged a protest at Model Town here on
Thursday against alleged desecration of their holy book.
The protesters gathered near a gurdwara demanding action against a landlord
who had thrown the holy book belonging to his tenant from the second storey
of his building in Model Town on Wednesday. The incident allegedly took
place when the landlord was forcibly evicting his tenant.
Taking the matter seriously, the protesters gathered on Thursday demanding
arrest of the landlord. They also blocked traffic on G.T. Karnal Road and
allegedly pelted stones at buses, damaging four vehicles.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/12/stories/2008051259260300.htm
Protest over MSEZ in Permude
Staff Correspondent
MANGALORE: Four people were arrested by the Bajpe police on Saturday and
released on bail later the same day, after a flare-up the previous day in
the Cross Padavu area of Permude village. It is one of the four villages
notified for the Phase II of the 3,835- acre Mangalore Special Economic Zone
Ltd.
The arrests were made following a complaint by an official of the MSEZ, who
alleged that he had been assaulted by members of the Krishi Bhoomi
Samrakshana Samiti (KBSS). Hundreds of people led by the KBSS, staged a
dharna on the premises of the police station from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on
Saturday. Speaking to The Hindu, the protesters said that the officials of
the company had entered their land forcibly with the help of anti-social
elements.
The agitators were demanding that the police register a complaint from their
side as well.
However, the local police have not registered any complaint, as yet.
Superintendent of Police N. Sathish Kumar said: "We will register a case
from the protesters."
Officials of the MSEZ were not available for comment.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/23/stories/2008052353970300.htm
Some 100 activists of TDP, CPI(M) and BJP arrested
Photo: K.R. Deepak
Acting tough: Police restraining a CPI(M) activist from staging a protest at
the venue of the bulk land auction by VUDA in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. -
VISAKHAPATNAM: The Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority's first bid
during current fiscal to mobilise funds by selling lands to bridge the
budgetary deficit of the State received a setback on Thursday with no
response to the much-hyped bulk auction of land in prime areas.
The attempt to auction was marred by protests by the Opposition and the
police bundled protesters on noticing them, irrespective of their number,
into waiting jeeps and mini-lorries. At one point of time, TDP corporator
Kona Tata Rao was seen pleading with the police that he did not come for
staging a protest. However, his pleadings fell on deaf ears as he was loaded
into a jeep. Over 100 activists of the TDP, the CPI(M) and the BJP were
arrested in separate batches.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/27/stories/2008052757910300.htm
Novel protest by TNHB allottees
Staff Reporter
Photo: M. Periasamy
VOICING RESENTMENT: Members of the Tamizhaga Veetu Vasathi Vaariya
Orunkinaintha Othukeetalargal Nala Sangham staging a demonstration at TNHB
office in the city on Monday. -
Coimbatore: The members of the Tamizhaga Veetu Vasathi Vaariya Orunkinaintha
Othukeetalargal Nala Sangham on Monday staged a novel agitation by filing
applications en-masse seeking information relating to sale deeds under the
Right to Information (RTI) Act.
According to K. Jeyachandran, Additional General Secretary of the Sangham,
the decision to throng the TNHB offices en-mass across the State and filing
of applications seeking individual accounts and status regarding issue of
sale deed invoking the provisions of the RTI Act were taken at the recent
general body meeting of the association.
More than 150 members of the association thronged the TNHB office filing
applications raising more than 30 questions. The questions related to the
justification behind the inordinate delay of more than two decades in issue
of sale deeds, even after the repayment of dues and instalments. The
allottees also questioned the TNHB authorities for imposing penalty,
interest and penal interest on the accrued outstanding against every
individual allottee.
Delay
The allottees said that delay in disbursement of sale deeds was especially
because of the failure of the authorities in disposing land acquisition
cases and pointed out that sale deeds had not been given even for houses on
sites which were not involved in any land acquisition case.
Administrative delay led to such a huge financial burden and should be borne
by the officials and the government, they said.
All the allottees filed individual applications under the RTI Act.
that the project will ensure a better life for them,' Sanak Mishra, CEO for
ArcelorMittal's greenfield steel projects in Jharkhand and Orissa, said.
http://story.indiagazette.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/701ee96610c884a6/id/363638/cs/1/
Orissa tribals protest Rs.400 bn Arcelor Mittal project
India Gazette
Monday 26th May, 2008
(IANS)
Hundreds of tribals Monday staged a demonstration to protest the proposed
Rs.400-billion steel plant by global major ArcelorMittal in Keonjhar
district of Orissa.
The protestors shouted slogans like 'Go back Mittal', 'We will not give an
inch of land for the plant', in front of a hall at district headquarter of
Keonjhar, some 150 km from here, where a meeting organized by the company
officials was on, a senior district police official told IANS.
The company held a meeting inviting villagers, NGOs and government officials
to seek their suggestions on the rehabilitation package for the tribals.
Although the company officials also invited the leaders of the protestors to
join the meeting, they refused, the police official said.
ArcelorMittal signed a deal with the Orissa government, two years ago, to
set up a 12 million tonne capacity steel plant at a proposed investment of
Rs.400 billion on nearly 8,000 acres of land in the tribal populated
Keonjhar district.
'We will make efforts to convince people
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/25/stories/2008052558860400.htm
Protest against eviction of trader, 32 held
Special Correspondent
TAMBARAM: Thirtytwo persons, including Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangangalin
Peravai president T.Vellaiyan, were arrested on Saturday when they attempted
to stage a demonstration in West Tambaram to protest the eviction of a
tenant from a commercial complex two days ago.
Members of the traders' body, led by Mr. Vellaiyan, were taking out a
procession towards Shanmugham Road, when the police arrested them.
They were detained in a marriage hall in Alandur and released in the
evening, the police said. The peravai's call to the shopkeepers to down
shutters in the southern suburbs met with partial response.
Trouble began on Thursday afternoon when a group of men barged into the
textile store run by A. Loganathan, who had taken two shops - one on the
ground floor and another on the first - on rent in a complex owned by
Veeraraghavan on Ramakrishnan Street. The men entered the shop on the ground
floor measuring about 200 square feet, bundled up clothes and racks and
threw them outside, before closing down the shutters.
As news about the incident spread, members of the Tambaram unit of the
peravai rushed to the spot. Sometime later,
Mr. Vellaiyan visited the shop. Traders alleged that the group of men who
barged into the shop was employed by the owner of the complex.
But, the relatives and friends of the owner said that the tenant was allowed
to occupy the first floor and was asked to vacate only the ground floor so
that relatives of the owner could move in. Though the owner was requesting
the tenant for several months to vacate, he did not budge.
Complaints were lodged by both sides at the Tambaram police station. A case
under Section 145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (dispute concerning land
likely cause breach of peace) was registered, the police said, adding the
incident would be probed by the Revenue Divisional Officer of Chengalpattu.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/24/stories/2008052459140300.htm
Protest staged against non-demarcation of land
- Photo: G. Moorthy
Against delay: Cadres of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi burning photocopies
of 'pattas' in front of the Collectorate on Friday.
MADURAI: Cadres of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi staged a protest in front
of the Collectorate here on Friday against delay in demarcation of land
though pattas were given to beneficiaries decades back. According to a
release, Mo. Ellalan, district secretary, said that in various villages in
the State, people from downtrodden sections were given only pattas and they
have not taken possession of the land. Blaming the State Government, he said
that it did not check whether beneficiaries who were given pattas were
living in the land allotted to them.
In Madurai, at least 3,500 people residing in places such as Theerthakadu
near Vandiyur and Chokkathevanpatti near Usilampatti have had their land
encroached or had not been properly demarcated. He noted that the SC/ST
Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, can be invoked against those people
encroaching or buying the land allotted to the beneficiaries.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/01/stories/2008060154300400.htm
Kannada activists stage protest
CHAMARAJANAGAR: Members of the Zilla Kannada Sanghatana Okkuta in
association with pro-Kannada organisations here on Friday burnt an effigy of
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in protest against his statement
that work on the Hogenakkal water project would be resumed soon. Okkuta
president Sha. Murali alleged that Mr. Karunanidhi was provoking Kannadigas
with such statements.
- Correspondent
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/11/stories/2008061151260600.htm
Protest against proposed land acquisition
Staff Reporter
Farmers, residents oppose proposed Neelambur-Mettuppalayam bypass road
Photo: M. Periasamy
VOICING PROTEST: Residents, farmers and small industries owners staging a
demonstration in front of the Red Cross Society buildings in Coimbatore on
Tuesday.-
Coimbatore: The farmers, residents and small industries owners who are
likely to be affected by the land acquisition for the proposed Neelambur -
Mettuppalayam bypass road on Tuesday staged a demonstration in front of Red
Cross Society building on Huzur Road in the city.
The demonstrators led by Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangham president M.R.
Sivasamy said that only through agitations the proposed land acquisitions
could be stopped.
The demonstrators urged the Government to convert the existing Mettuppalayam
Road into a four-lane road rather than laying a bypass road acquiring
agricultural lands, residential colonies and industrial units.
The victims have resolved to strengthen their struggle through series of
agitations.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/28/stories/2008062857840300.htm
Karnataka
Protest against Hogenakkal project
Correspondent
Kannada organisations urge Union Government to stop the drinking water
project
CHAMARAJANAGAR: Members of the Kannada Kala Rakshana Vedike, in association
with other Kannada organisations, staged an agitation by beating a drum in
front of the district office complex here on Friday to urge the Union
Government to stop the drinking water project being taken up the Tamil Nadu
Government at Hogenakkal.
The protesters raised slogans against the Union Government and the Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi. They urged the Union Government to
restart the joint survey of the disputed island. Members of various Kannada
organisations have been staging agitations here for the last three days.
They have decided to continue their till the Union Government takes steps to
solve the Hogenakkal issue.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/28/stories/2008062857350300.htm
Andhra Pradesh - Kurnool
Displaced farmers protest at DRC
Special Correspondent
KURNOOL: The farmers from Gadivemula, whose lands were needed for the Jindal
cement plant, staged a demonstration at the Collectorate here on Friday
demanding a higher compensation.
The farmers, led by CPI(M) leaders, staged a sit-in for nearly three hours
demanding an audience with Minister Incharge of the district Kasu Venkata
Krishna Reddy who was here to attend the District Review Committee.
The Minister spoke to the leaders and farmers at around noon and promised to
bring the issue to the notice of the government.
The farmers demanded Rs. 3 lakh for dry land and Rs. 6 lakh per acre for
land with irrigation.
Snatching land
They alleged that the factory management, supported by the local leaders,
was snatching the land from them and constructing a compound wall without
paying proper compensation to them.
MLA M.A. Gafoor, CPI(M) district secretary T. Shadrak, Congress MLA Erasu
Pratap Reddy and others were present.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/22/stories/2008062258450300.htm
Kerala - Kochi
Evictees' protest
KOCHI: The management authorities of the Kochi Refineries would be blocked
on the road by the evictees' association on June 27 in protest against the
alleged failure of the company to fulfil the demand for giving jobs.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/08/stories/2008070858510400.htm
Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad
Goud squats in protest
Special Correspondent
Submits plea on behalf of Polepalli evacuees
HYDERABAD: Former Telugu Desam leader T. Devender Goud squatted on the road
opposite Parisrama Bhavan here on Monday afternoon while leading a dharna by
land evacuees of the special economic zone (SEZ) at Polepalli in Mahbubnagar
district.
On behalf of a group of women demonstrators from Polepalli gathered there,
Mr. Goud submitted a memorandum to senior officials of the AP Industrial
Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) inside the bhavan. The women demanded
land-for-land in addition to Rs. 10 lakh an acre as compensation.
Mr. Goud demanded that the State government scrap its SEZ policy as it
amounted to hoodwinking the poor villagers who surrendered their land. The
APIIC and the HUDA have turned into 'broking arms' of the government, he
said. The HUDA extended its jurisdiction up to Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and
Medak, thanks to the policy, he added.He warned of an intensified agitation
to be led by him, in Telangana districts against the SEZs.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/16/stories/2008071651240300.htm
Tamil Nadu
Protest against land acquisition
Staff Reporter
Hosur: Members of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam (TNVS) led by president M.R.
Sivasamy staged a demonstration on Tuesday urging the State Government not
to acquire fertile lands for Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/15/stories/2008071558920300.htm
Karnataka - Mangalore
People protest against land acquisition
Staff Correspondent
MANGALORE: Residents of Rama Nagar, Vasanth Nagar and Lower Maroli, staged a
protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office here on Monday.
They were urging the Government to drop the move to acquire a 12-acre plot
in the area purportedly for constructing a private bus stand. The areas are
in the vicinity of Pumpwell Circle here.
The protest was organised by Maroli Mattu Kadri B. Gramada Nagarika
Hitharakshana Samiti. The protesters, including women, shouted slogans that
they would part their houses to facilitate the construction of a bus stand
there. They withdrew the protest after N. Yogish Bhat, MLA, who arrived at
the spot, promised to look into the issue. They submitted a memorandum to
K.A. Prabhakar Sharma, Headquarter's Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner.
K. Purushothama Suvarna, president of the samithi, said that the corporation
had sent a notice to the owners of over 200 houses in the area, inviting
their objections, if any, to the land acquisition. They had been asked to
approach the corporation on August 4, he said. James D'Souza, councillor of
Maroli ward, said that he would not allow the land acquisition as it would
be displacing the residents of the area. M. Arvind, resident of the area,
told The Hindu that the corporation had permitted the people there to build
houses there. It had provided water connection and electricity. It had given
door numbers to the houses.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/12/stories/2008081258540300.htm
Karnataka
Protest against eviction drive in Chikmagalur
Correspondent
CHIKMAGALUR: People living in huts on land belonging to Someshwara temple in
Basavanahalli extension in Chikmagalur staged a demonstration in front of
the district offices here on Monday to protest against being evicted from
their dwellings.
In a memorandum submitted to R. Narayanaswamy, Deputy Commissioner of
Chikmagalur district, they complained that municipal authorities evicted
them from their huts at 6 a.m. on Sunday without issuing any notice. They
complained that their belongings were taken in a truck and dumped in
Shantinagar on the outskirts of the city near Ashraya houses.
The municipal authorities allegedly broke open locks of some houses which
were occupied and instructed them to stay there. When the occupants of the
houses returned home in the evening there were altercations. Mr.
Narayanaswamy made arrangements for supply of foodgrains to the affected
families. He instructed officials to identify Ashraya houses that were
illegally occupied for relocation of the evicted families.
The City Municipal Council president Krishna has clarified in a press
release that 21 huts were constructed on the land belong to the Muzrai
Department and the municipality.
http://story.indiagazette.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/701ee96610c884a6/id/392170/cs/1/
Himachal project to provide water to Delhi faces protest
India Gazette
Saturday 9th August, 2008
(IANS)
The Himachal Pradesh government's decision to provide water to Delhi through
the proposed 40-MW Renuka dam is likely to hit a roadblock, with people in
the area protesting land acquisition for the project.
Around 500 residents under the Renuka Dam Jan Sangharsh Committee are
protesting the construction of the dam - on a tributary of the Yamuna river
in Sirmaur district - that will displace people in over a dozen villages.
Residents say the government has not taken them into confidence about the
project that will submerge their fertile lands. They have also expressed
apprehension that it will threaten the existence of the Renuka wetlands,
which lie downstream.
'We have decided that until all oustees get residential and agricultural
areas of their choice, they will not vacate their villages,' said Ram Singh,
whose fields and houses will be submerged with the construction of the dam.
Another villager, Naresh Kumar, said: 'For quenching the thirst of
Delhiites, the government is hell bent upon taking away our livelihood.
'We would prefer a watery grave to surrendering to the government our land
that has been tilled by our forefathers.'
Yoginder Kapila, the convenor of the Sangharsh Samiti, told IANS that 'every
affected family must get at least 10 bighas of agriculture land at the new
settlement and the compensation should be decided by taking us into
confidence'.
He rued that the state government had started the land acquisition process
without taking the affected families into confidence.
The proposed Rs.24-billion project will not only supply water to Delhi but
also generate 40 MW of power for Himachal Pradesh.
The idea of the Renuka dam was first mooted in 1990 at an estimated cost of
Rs.4 billion, but the project was delayed for many reasons. Recently, the
Delhi Jal Board agreed to initially provide Rs.3 billion to the hill state
so that construction work could be initiated.
Sirmaur's deputy commissioner Pushpinder Rajput said a survey had been
started to ascertain the area that would be submerged in the dam waters. He
said the affected families would be taken into confidence before starting
the land acquisition process.
'The process to identify the land where the affected villagers will be
rehabilitated is also going on,' Rajput added.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/20/stories/2008082054150300.htm
Andhra Pradesh - Kurnool
TD leader protests land allotment
Special Correspondent
KURNOOL: TDP leader Bangi Ananthaiah protested against allotment of APCC for
setting Human Resource Development centre at throw away price at Hyderabad.
Mr. Ananthaiah and his supporters walked to the collectorate half-naked and
shouted slogans saying the government had indulged in misuse of position. He
said the land would cost nearly Rs. 100 crore but the government transferred
it for a price of Rs 20 lakh only.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/17/stories/2008081759660300.htm
Kerala - Kochi
Evictees' protest
KOCHI: Some people who were evicted from Moolampilly and other areas for
establishing rail and road connectivity for the Vallarpadam terminal project
held a protest demonstration at Menaka on Saturday.
Inaugurating it, C.R. Neelakandan, socio-environmental activist, said that
land from which people were evicted was handed over to Dubai Port World,
without ensuring rehabilitation of the evictees.
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=462587&sid=REG
Punjab farmers protest land acquisition for thermal plant
Patiala, Aug 16: Hundreds of farmers in the district are protesting
acquisition of 1078.16 acres of land by the Punjab government for setting up
a super thermal power plant near Nalash village.
The protesters gheraoed the house of Rajpura BJP MLA Raj Khurana by over two
hours today morning and demanded a higher compensation of Rs 1.5 crore
against Rs 34 lakh per acre alloted by the government.
Capt Rachpal Singh, convener of the agitation committee, said since Khurana
was a member of district price fixation committee and also the chief
parliamentary secretary, he could impress upon Chief Minister Parkash Singh
Badal to accept their demands.
"When government has given Rs 1.5 crore per acre for Jheurheri village for
construction of airport near Mohali, why were we given step-motherly
treatment," Singh said.
Hundreds of farmers have been staging dharna against the acquisition in
front of the sub-divisional magistrate office in Rajpura for the last few
days.
The government has proposed to set up a 1320 MW supercritical thermal power
plant and lands have been acquired in seven villages of the district for the
purpose.
Deputy Commissioner Dharamjit Singh Grewal said the land had already been
acquired and the rate was fixed based on prevailing rate in the area.
The seven villages are Suralkalah (with 330.12 acres), Suralkhurd (262.98
acres), Nalaskhurd (221.58 acres), Nalaskalan (37.60 acres), Raimajra (27.26
acres), Sadhror (174.84 acres) and Rangian (23.78 acres).
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/08/stories/2008080855350500.htm
Andhra Pradesh - Guntur
Villagers stage protest at Collectorate
Staff Reporter
Proposed coastal corridor will damage coastal ecosystem: CPI leaders
Left parties form body to take up the issue
Plan to lay siege to Assembly on August 28
- Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar
On the warpath: Toddy tappers demonstrate against the proposed coastal
corridor in Guntur on Thursday.
GUNTUR: ``The State Government wants to take your land at a throwaway price
leaving you landless. The chemical pollutants released from the factories
will enter the sea and cause death of fish leaving you jobless." The words
coming from Ramakrishna, member State CPI Polit Bburo, at a protest meet
against the proposed coastal corridor are making 50-year-old Narsaraju from
Allur village near Pittlavanipalem anxious. He holds about 10 acres of land
in the village using it for cultivation of paddy in addition to aqua culture
ponds and leasing out some land for growing other crops.
A few days ago, he had seen a notification in newspapers calling for
objections to the land acquisition process in 13 villages in Repalle and
Bapatla mandals.
"The Government will take our lands by paying a nominal amount and that
meagre amount will not be sufficient even to buy a cent of land in these
times of spiralling land prices," he said. On Thursday, he was one among
about 1,000 of them who came in lorries and staged a demonstration outside
the collectorate.
His predicament is shared by scores of small farmers, toddy-tappers and
others living in about 13 villages where the proposed coastal corridor would
come up. "They say that many jobs will be available in the factories, but we
are illiterate. We have been dependant on our professions for decades," says
Jonna Venkateswara Rao from Dindi village. He said that people had become
restless ever since they had seen a newspaper notification worrying about
the pains of displacement and trauma of being jobless.
The State Government on January 4 issued a G.O notifying setting up a
coastal corridor between the sea ports of Nizampatnam and Vodarevu in
Prakasam districts and awarded the contract to Rass Al Khaimah (RAK)
Investment Authority of the United Arab Emirates and Matrix Export Private
Ltd.
A body consisting of Communist Party of India and other left parties, trade
unions and farmers belonging to those regions called `Coastal Teera Pranta
Parirakshana Samithi' has been formed to take up the cause of scores of
displaced families with the State Government.
On Thursday members of the Samithi held demonstrations at all the costal
districts headquarters.
In Guntur, TDP district president P. Pulla Rao, general secretary Ziauddin,
and CPI secretary M. Nageswara Rao were present on the occasion. The leaders
vowed that they would continue the agitation until the Government came down.
They would lay siege to the Assembly on August 28, they added.
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/28/stories/2008062857610300.htm
Karnataka - Mangalore
Vedike protests against PCPIR, SEZ
Staff Correspondent
'Farmers will be the biggest losers if these projects are implemented'
- Photo: R. Eswarraj
Raising slogans: People protesting against setting up of mega projects, in
Mangalore on Friday.
MANGALORE: A large number of people staged a protest in front of the Deputy
Commissioner's office here on Friday against the proposal to set up a
Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) and
Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ).
The agitators included students, members of various organisations and
farmers from 70 villages to be affected by these proposed projects. The
protest was held under the banner of Karavali Karnataka Janabhivriddhi
Vedike, a federation of 80 organisations.
The agitators faxed a memorandum in support of their demands to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh from outside the Deputy Commissioner's office.
Addressing the agitators, activist Natesh Ullal said that the PCPIR project
and MSEZ were export-oriented and their benefits to local people or nation's
economy would be minimal.
"The oil refined at PCPIR is for the countries that do not want to undertake
the highly polluting job of refining the crude," he said.
Speaking on behalf of St. Aloysius College, which is affiliated to the All
India Catholic Universities' Federation, Vinod Mascarenhas said that small
and medium farmers would be the biggest losers if the two projects were
implemented. "By taking away the land of small farmers, the proponents of
these mega projects will only drive poor people to destitution," he added.
He urged the politicians to take up the people's causes.
Mohammed Kunhi, district head of Jamat-e-Islami Hind, said that the two
projects were part of globalisation and liberalisation.
"Projects such as these are part of the imperialist designs of the
capitalist West," he added.
Several government-sponsored studies had warned against industrialisation of
this ecologically sensitive zone.
"There is data suggesting that a mega project such as PCPIR is detrimental
to the region. The reason for the Government going ahead with the project is
that it is under the clutches of vested interest groups from the West," he
said.
The agitators said that they would intensify their agitation against the two
projects in the next few weeks.
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=372108
Farmers block highway to protest Raigad SEZ
IANS Tuesday 17th June, 2008
Mumbai/Over 2,000 farmers in Maharashtra's Raigad district Tuesday blocked
the Mumbai-Goa national highway to protest against land acquisition for the
proposed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) being developed by Mukesh Ambani's
Reliance group.
Led by former minister and Peasants and Workers Party leader N.D. Patil
under the banner of Jagatikaran Virodhi Kriti Samiti (anti-globalization
action committee), the farmers blockaded the busy highway at Vashi Naka near
Vadkhal for about four hours during which the police had to resort to
cane-charge.
Though the blockade did not lead to disruption of traffic on the highway as
the police had diverted the traffic via other routes, tension mounted around
the sit-in venue as the protesters refused to budge, necessitating a
cane-charge, police inspector Ramesh Khade said.
The farmers, mainly from 22 villages in the district coming under the
command area of the Hetavane irrigation project, were protesting a 'breach
of promise' by the government that their irrigated land would not be
acquired for the 14,000 hectare SEZ, committee spokesperson Vaishali Patil
told IANS.
'The promise was made by the state rehabilitation minister Patangrao Kadam
after 15 representative farmers had resorted to an indefinite fast last July
protesting the threatened acquisition of their irrigated land,' Patil said.
Relief and Rehabilitation Secretary V.V. Gaikwad told IANS that the
'complicated' issue was with Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for a final
decision.
'The command area of the Hetavane project is getting shrunk as the dam water
is being diverted to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO)
and a few industries; this being the case, it is not certain how much land
will remain under irrigation,' he explained.
Among those who led the protest, were Raigad district council president
Neelima Patil and rehabilitation authority member Pratibha Shinde, Vaishali
Patil said, adding that Shinde had raised the issue in the authority's
meeting.
The state government's rehabilitation authority - Maharashtra is the only
state in the country to have set up such an authority to oversee the
rehabilitation of project affected people - has accepted the rehabilitation
package submitted by the Reliance Group for the proposed SEZ.
Vaishali Patil, who has been spearheading the agitation against 'the biggest
SEZ in Asia' said, hundreds of farmers have submitted objections to the
acquisition of their land.
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