District Collector Lav Agarwal has expressed his displeasure with the response of Ramky, developer of Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City (JNPC) at Parawada, for not initiating action on rehabilitation and resettlement of project affected/displaced people.
Asked to comment on the controversy over Pharma City, he told The Hindu on phone on Wednesday that they were evading action – on providing jobs and relocation of pollution-affected people.
He said for rehabilitation of pollution affected people, Ramky officials were saying it was the responsibility of the government. For jobs to locals, they were saying the units coming up in Pharma City have to provide employment and it was not the responsibility of the developer.
Mr. Agarwal said they had issued notices for causing public nuisance and inconvenience under Section 133 of Code of Criminal Procedure Code a fortnight ago. The AP Pollution Control Board was also in the process of preparing a specific report, he said.
To a question, he said the Joint Collector as well as he himself held talks with Ramky during past several months. The response from Ramky on rehabilitation and resettlement was not satisfactory, he said.
Meanwhile, Ramky in response to media reports said Pharma City was not causing any pollution. It said the Pharma City had got the best of environmental infrastructure in the country, including effluent treatment plant, multiple effect evaporator, solid and industrial hazardous waste management, and solvent recovery facility.
Stating that entire infrastructure at the site were operated as per environmental consents issued by AP Pollution Control Board, it said jobs were being given to the locals and in future also, they would give priority to people residing around the area.
Green belt
On reduction of green belt area, the company said the green belt development was in line with the Concession Agreement as contemplated in 2002/ 2003 and constantly maintained as per permissions and authorisations received from VUDA and/or APPCB. It claimed allotting more than 350 acres for green belt.
Conditional offer
Meanwhile, at an emergency meeting, JNPC Manufacturers’ Association offered to provide 100 new jobs in addition to 350 provided earlier. The new jobs would be given to project displaced and project affected people if the villagers refrain from resorting to agitations in future, M. Nagaraja, Chief Administrative Officer of JNPCMA, said.
