Members of the Krishi Bhoomi Samrakshana Samiti on Thursday said they will protest in front of the office of the District in-charge Minister U.T. Khader if the latter fails to prevail upon the Deputy Commissioner, Sasikanth Senthil S., to inquire into the alleged irregular acquisition of land for the fourth phase of expansion of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited.
Talking to presspersons here, samiti’s president Madhukar Amin said that they gave representations on June 10 and 14 to Mr. Khader pointing out alleged irregularities in acquisition of 829.22 out of 960 acres of land for the project.
Mr. Amin said they have told the Minister how the Karnataka Industrial Development Board allegedly flouted norms and procedures before issuing final notification for acquisition of the land in February. Though Mr. Khader directed Mr. Senthil to inquire into the allegations, Mr. Amin said no action so far has been taken and the district administration has gone ahead with the process of fixation of rates for the acquired land.
Accusing Mr. Khader of deliberately turning a blind eye to the allegations, Vidya Dinker, a member of the samiti, said the Minister has to act by August 20. “If he fails to do, we will hold a protest before his office,” she said. Laurence D’Cunha, secretary of the samiti, said that they have documented the alleged irregularities and produced it during the annual general body meeting of MRPL on August 11.
Mr. D’Cunha said that the Karnataka High Court has stayed the process of acquisition following a petition by a landowner while allowing the district administration to go ahead with the task of fixing rates of the land.