The stand-off between NLC India Ltd. (NLCIL) and Cuddalore farmers over the public sector company’s drive to take possession of the long-acquired land for ramping up power generation continues weeks later. NLCIL is staking claim to the large land parcels that it had purchased years ago, while farmers are seeking more compensation that would factor in the current market rates, and an unbroken harvest cycle this season.
The Madras High Court order granting the farmers time till September 15 to harvest the crops they had raised on the land acquired by NLCIL has given them a brief respite. But the larger questions remain over resettlement, adequacy of compensation, the unfulfilled promise of jobs for locals, and the future of farmers once they are evicted from their land.
With neither party willing to budge, the dispute flared up in recent weeks after NLCIL deployed machines to flatten the crops, prompting farmers groups and political parties to launch a widespread protest. Even as the government sought ways to end the impasse, the dispute was dragged to the court. Most recently, the National Green Tribunal took cognisance suo motu of a report of environmental pollution in the region from lignite mining.
The Central public sector enterprise’s ambitious mining project ran into trouble from the outset after it started taking possession of fertile land in the tail-end of the Cauvery delta region in Cuddalore district last month. Farmers in Melvalayamadevi, Karivetti and Kathalai villages were up in arms against the expansion and NLCIL’s offer of monetary compensation. Though several landowners refused the compensation over the disparity in rates and refused to part with their land, some did settle for whatever was offered because of the continuous pressure from NLCIL.
The resistance was largely because agriculture remains the lifeline of residents of the area, with the agrarian economy sustaining thousands of families in the three villages. The fertile land remains their only source of livelihood, and the act of flattening the standing paddy crops sown a few weeks ago seemed to be the tinder that set the sparks flying.
Plea to Collector
“A group of affected farmers met Collector A. Arun Thamburaj, requesting him to intervene and stop the land acquisition. One of the farmers even offered to prostrate before the Collector at the meeting and pleaded for suspending the exercise so that the farmers could harvest the crops,” said a farmer who witnessed the destruction. “But, a day later, NLCIL officials, with a fleet of heavy machineries and earth-movers in tow, swarmed Melvalayamadevi and began bulldozing the crops in the early hours of July 26. We kept pleading with them to spare the land, but the drive continued,” he said.
V. Murugan, a farmer of Melvalayamadevi who moved the High Court, pointed out that with the recent developments, the future of farming and making a living from agriculture remains uncertain. “Despite repeated requests to the official machinery and NLCIL officials to suspend the land acquisition exercise, the farmers have been let down. NLCIL went ahead with taking possession of the acquired land by using bulldozers to flatten the crops, while the affected farmers had not even been paid the compensation. This is highly unjustified,” he said.
“NLCIL and the authorities should first understand the mood of the people before trying to acquire their land,” he said. “The official machinery listens only to the Collector and the Minister for Agriculture, but no one is bothered to hear out the genuine grievances of the farmers,” Mr. Murugan said.
‘NLCIL silent on resettlement’
Udayakumar, a small farmer of Karivetti, gave 2.5 acres of his land in 2006. “Though the compensation seemed good initially, NLCIL has not taken into account the phenomenal increase in the cost of living. The landowners have the valuable right to raise objections and seek enhanced compensation and resettlement benefits. Where will we go with our families? NLCIL has been silent on the demands of resettlement and rehabilitation of the displaced farmers,” he said.
Standing in front of his paddy fields that had been acquired by NLCIL, A. Ramalingam, a farmer and retired teacher, recalled how in the 1990s, the farmers of Melvalayamadevi and surrounding villages used to take bullock carts loaded with rice they had harvested to residents in each of the blocks in the Township. “Farmers used to travel 8 km to supply rice. We fed them, and now they are letting us down. The Special Tahsildar, Land Acquisition, NLCIL, first approached farmers in the region in 2007 for their land for the mining project. However, we refused to part with it. They again visited in 2008, pressuring the farmers to part with their land since it was being acquired for a public purpose,” Mr. Ramalingam said.
“Initially, NLCIL offered us a compensation of ₹1.5 lakh an acre. The farmers were asked to accept the amount by the officials who also stated that if the amount was not accepted, it would be deposited in court. So, out of apprehension, we accepted the offer. The land remained unused since NLCIL failed to take possession of it. Unable to bear seeing the fertile soil laid to waste, the farmers started raising crops on the land,” he said.
Mr. Ramalingam said NLCIL had come forward to provide an enhanced compensation of ₹10 lakh per acre for the land acquired in 2008. However, for the land acquired after 2014, it offered ₹25 lakh per acre. This disparity in the compensation for the fertile land located on the same stretch showed that NLCIL was out to drive a wedge among the farmers, he alleged.
“More importantly, there is no information on whether the affected farmers will be resettled. We are seeking what is our right. NLCIL had also promised permanent employment to all those who had parted with their land. But not even one person has received the promised job,” said K. Ramesh, another farmer.
According to K.V. Elangeeran, president of the Cauvery Delta Farmers Federation, the NLCIL expansion is sought to be achieved at the cost of agriculture. There was no point in destroying vast swathes of fertile land for the expansion and this was unjustified as farmers should not be made to suffer. “Once agriculture vanishes from this fertile region, the livelihood of farmers will be badly hit. Where will the farmers go once they are deprived of their land that they have cultivated for generations? The compensation would not be sufficient since they are given peanuts. Farmers cannot invest the money in buying fertile land since the land cost is prohibitive,” he said.
Mr. Elangeeran added, “Instead of giving compensation, the affected farmers could be taken on board as shareholders. NLCIL should give a share or dividend in tune with the extent of land acquired from farmers. This would ensure a permanent income.”
‘No social impact assessment’
A section of farmers at Kathalai rued that no social impact assessment was done. “The land is irrigated, and we can grow crops the whole year. NLCIL cannot fix a price on the land,” is their refrain. When this correspondent visited Melvalayamadevi days after the destruction of the paddy crops, most of the residents, especially farmers with large landholdings, were too scared to speak. Policemen had been deployed across the village; the residents were in perpetual fear since NLCIL started taking possession of the acquired land.
A few farmers who vented their ire on the Tamil Nadu government for failing to stop the destruction of fertile land on July 26 were slapped with cases by the Sethiyathope police. This measure was aimed at instilling fear among people. Following the continuing protests, a large number of policemen have been deployed in the affected villages, where a sense of disquiet prevails. Earlier, the police prevented P.R. Pandian, president of the coordination committee of the All Farmers Associations of Tamil Nadu, and Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLAs V.P. Nagaimaali of Kilvelur and M. Chinnadurai of Gandarvakottai from going to Melvalayamadevi to express solidarity with the affected farmers.
People, particularly farmers, of Alampadi, Thattanodai and Sathapadi are keeping their fingers crossed. They fear that the land acquisition would not be confined to Melvalayamadevi, Kathalai and Karivetti as NLCIL needed a large amount of land in future for its expansion.
“NLCIL has been rapidly expanding its mining areas. It may not touch our land today. But what will we do without land and how long can we survive? We, too, will face the same fate and be forced out,” said Saran Raj, of Karivetti.
Meanwhile, the district administration has said it will go by the High Court order directing the farmers not to carry out any further cultivation in the acquired land and to harvest the standing crops by September 15. NLCIL had acquired the land long ago, but failed to take possession of it. It had directed farmers not to grow crops on the acquired land as it would take it over as and when required. But farmers continued to raise crops, leading to the impasse, an official said.
‘Notice served on all farmers’
NLCIL has maintained that notice was served on all farmers in December 2022 that the land would be taken up for the diversion of the Upper Paravanar Canal. The amount of land required for mining is acquired in phases in accordance with the requirements set by the Mine Planning Department. Owing to the inadequate land acquisition in the last 10 years, NLCIL does not have the required amount of land for lignite mining. It has acquired 9,700 hectares of land in Neyveli for mining since 1956. Of this, 9,146 hectares has been used for mining. About 1,054 hectares is needed for the next five years, an official of NLCIL said.
Published - August 13, 2023 12:57 am IST