Farmers of Annur area, who have been staging protests under the ‘Namadhu Nilam Namadhe’ Farmers Welfare Association, have urged the State government to roll back its order on acquiring land in that area to establish an industrial park.
Kumara Ravikumar, president of the association, told presspersons here on Friday that the farmers and land owners at Annur are certain that no industry or industrial park should come up in that area and the government should recall its order issued to acquire 3,731.6 acres spread across six villages in Annur and Mettupalayam taluks.
Further, the government should announce Annur and Mettupalayam as ‘Agriculture Zones’ in order to protect these cultivable lands.
Pointing out that the Nilgiris MP A.Raja had said that TIDCO will make use of 2,000 acres of “company land”, he said the MP “has been misinformed by officials or by somebody that the company land is around 2,000 acres. In reality, it is only 1,200 acres that belongs to a Bengaluru-based company.”
Already 200 acres of the 1,200 acres have been sold to a buyer who is preparing it for agricultural-related works. Nearly 450 acres have issues related to ownership. In the remaining land, just 200 acres are joined portions and the rest are scattered around the farmers’ lands, Mr. Ravikumar said.
The people of Annur have had experiences with industries coming up in that area and leading to pollution problems. The people have unanimously decided that they will not allow any industry or industrial park to come up there, as there is adequate industry in Annur-Mettupalayam areas, he said.
They have already filed a case demanding withdrawal of the GO. If the government goes ahead and tries to acquire 1630 acres, the people will go to the court again. “Before the government issues an order, it has to conduct public hearing. We have confidence in the government and are ready to meet the Chief Minister. The officials are misguiding the MP and the Chief Minister in this issue,” he said.
