Farmers protesting against the proposed industrial park near Annur and its surrounding villages in the district plan to meet the Chairman of Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO) to explain their demands.
After a meeting with Nilgiris MP A. Raja in Annur on Sunday, K. Ravikumar, president of the farmers’ group ‘Namadhu Nilam Namathe’ said there were only 815 acres of dry lands owned by private firms in Annur area. These lands were scattered into 85 patches, and there was no connectivity between the lands. It would be impossible to set up an industrial park on a discontinuous stretch of dry land.
The representatives planned to meet with TIDCO Chairman, who is scheduled to visit the site by next week, and District Collector to discuss further the industrial park project, he said.
Mr. Raja said at the meeting, “It is my duty to stop the project, if it troubles the farmers. But, the trouble has to be proven scientifically. It is the responsibility of the officials to clarify the doubts of the farmers.”
Industries that caused no harm to existing farmlands, environment, and livelihood of people, would only be permitted in the dry lands that the State government planned to acquire, he added.
Declaring the area as a protected agricultural zone was ruled out because of the lack of certain parameters such as cultivation during three harvest seasons in a year, for the past 10 years, said Mr. Ravikumar.
The government initially proposed to set up TIDCO industrial park at Annur on 3,731.6 acre. After opposition from the farmers, the government announced that no farmland would be acquired, and only dry lands owned by private firms would be considered for acquisition.
