Justice T. Raja of the Madras High Court on Monday expressed his deep anguish over opposition to almost every other development project in the State for one reason or the other by a section of people. He was of the view that foreign investors might turn to other States if such a trend went unchecked.
The judge expressed his mind during the hearing of a writ petition filed by a group of farmers opposing permission granted by the Namakkal Collector to the Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCI) to enter their lands for erecting high tension towers for the 800 kv Raigarh-Pugalur High Voltage Direct Current Bipole Link.
Nevertheless, prima facie convinced with the submissions of senior counsel P. Wilson that the poor farmers would not be able to cultivate their lands if the towers were erected on their properties, the judge ordered maintenance of status quo till government counsel could obtain instructions on the issue by Wednesday.
The petitioners had urged the court to quash a series of orders passed by the Collector between February 2 and 5 granting ‘enter upon permission’ to PGCI and consequently direct the official to consider the objections raised by the petitioners after furnishing to them details such as route approval, GPS coordinates and distance between towers.
The Bipole Link passing through 1,843 km and cutting across five States — Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu — was conceived to address the power deficit in South India.
Giant towers
In so far was Tamil Nadu was concerned, the project implementation area covered Tirupur, Erode, Namakkal, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Vellore, where giant towers were being erected to transmit power through overhead power lines.
In December last, a batch of 82 farmers from Erode district approached the court fearing that the towers would be erected on their land without following the rules. Then, Justice N. Anand Venkatesh disposed of the case after recording PGCI’s undertaking that it shall strictly follow Section 16 (1) of the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885.
As per the legal provisions, the Collector’s permission must be obtained before entering private lands where there was resistance or obstruction. The petitioners before the court alleged that the policemen were threatening to foist false cases against them and their family members if they resisted.
The petitioners were primarily from Kongudaiyampalayam, Vadugapatti, Nanjaikalamangalam, Punjaikalamangalam, Modakurichi, Velampalayam, Arachalur and Ezhumathur of Erode district. They opposed erection of towers on their agricultural lands and said it would affect their constitutional right to property.
