Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary K. Narayana on Wednesday demanded a judicial probe into the police firing at Sompeta in Srikakulam district. Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Narayana described the act of fencing 7,000 acres by Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) as illegal and without the government or people's authority. When local farmers and fishermen resisted the move, the State government with the help of more than 400 police personnel got the fencing work completed in the past four days.
‘No eco clearance'
He said the project had not received environmental clearance and hence beginning construction work was illegal. He said the State government, while providing protection to a private contractor, ignored the welfare of thousands of people from the area, he lamented.
The Government had issued a G.O. prohibiting acquisition of Reserve Tanks in the 7,000 acres proposed to be acquired for a 6,000 MW thermal power plant on the sea coast. But the G.O. was also overlooked and land acquisition notices served along with village tanks, he said.
“I visited 16 of the 24 villages, where people would lose their lands and not even a single person in those villages was ready to part with his land,” he said. On February 24 a public meeting was organised to discuss the land acquisition and seeking people's view on setting up the thermal project, at which the proposal was rejected by the villagers, he added.
A voluntary bandh was organised at Sompeta and people came to the meeting to oppose the move. The CPI submitted a comprehensive report on the proposed destruction of wetlands and large tracts of coconut, mango plantations and paddy fields to Chief Minister K. Rosaiah and the Central government through Ministry of Environment and Forests.
CPI district secretary J. Satyanarayana Murty was also present at the press conference.
