Is SIPCOT eager to acquire additional lands for the NLC mine? PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss has raised this question.
In a statement issued by TVK regarding this, "The government has issued a notification to acquire an additional 164 acres of land, in addition to the already notified 1,097 acres in the Thiagavalli and Kudikadu areas, for setting up a new SIPCOT complex in Cuddalore district, and also for the expansion of the NLC mine.
At a time when the entire Cuddalore district has already been affected by land acquisition and environmental damage, repeatedly imposing SIPCOT complexes and coal mines, and seizing land, is condemnable.

In Cuddalore, the district headquarters of Cuddalore district, a SIPCOT complex is operating over an area of 2,625 acres. The DMK government decided to establish another SIPCOT complex on 1,119 acres in the nearby Kudikadu and Thiyavalli areas, and issued a government order on October 28 last year to acquire 1,097 acres of agricultural land in those areas.
While the local people have been staging continuous protests against it, the Tamil Nadu government has now issued a notification on the 1st to acquire a total of 164.20 acres of land in the villages of Kudikadu and Thiyavalli. All of this land had earlier been taken away from the public and farmers at low prices by two private large companies in the past.
While the public has been insisting that those lands be returned to them, it is unacceptable for the government itself to be eager to seize them. Although 75% of the lands acquired through the new notification belong to large corporations, the TVK government has confirmed that, with the newly announced 164.20 acres added to the already announced 1,119 acres, a new SIPCOT complex is set to be established over a total area of 1,283 acres.
Tamil Nadu’s largest SIPCOT complex is located in Oragadam, covering an area of 3,157 acres. Next is the second-largest SIPCOT in Cheyyar, spread over 2,937 acres. Following these two, Tamil Nadu’s third-largest SIPCOT is in Cuddalore, covering 2,625 acres. In addition, if a new SIPCOT is established over 1,283 acres, then Cuddalore will host Tamil Nadu’s largest SIPCOT complex, spanning 3,968 acres.
This is not development for Cuddalore district.... rather, it is a disaster. Cuddalore does not need this. Likewise, the Tamil Nadu government’s notification states that for NLC’s Mine 1 expansion, 68 parcels of land spread over 12.60 acres in Gangakondan village, and for Mine 1A expansion, 77 parcels of land spread over 3.21 acres in Vanathirayapuram village, will be acquired.

These are all residential plots. If these are acquired, more than a hundred families could be left without a place to live. The land, water, and air are all being polluted by untreated waste discharged from the chemical plants in the Cuddalore SIPCOT complex.
Because industrial waste has mixed into the water and soil, the breast milk of women in Cuddalore district and the tender coconut water produced there contain high levels of toxic substances called dioxins, which can cause cancer. On the other hand, the 3 million people in Cuddalore district have been affected in one way or another by the NLC coal mines in the district. In such a situation, if a new SIPCOT complex is set up over another 1,283 acres, the entire Cuddalore district will turn into a toxic wasteland.
Moreover, by establishing the SIPCOT complex, the livelihoods of farmers and the public are being taken away. The farmlands in areas including Kudikadu and Thiyagavalli are highly fertile. Through them, an income of up to Rs. 10 lakh is earned annually. However, in some places, a basic guideline value of Rs. 3.31 lakh per acre has been fixed, and compensation is calculated based on that alone.
Although the Tamil Nadu government claims that compensation is being paid at about 3 to 4 times the guideline value, the truth is that the amount offered as compensation is not even one-third of the market value in that area. Beyond that, agriculture is the only source of livelihood for the people in the Kudikadu and Thiyavalli areas. By taking away these lands at a low price, the government is plundering the people’s entire livelihood. As a result, the people who lose their land will end up becoming laborers in their own homeland.

During the previous DMK regime, the then Chief Minister made a heroic declaration that if land were to be acquired to set up coal mines in the Cauvery irrigation districts or to establish a tungsten mine in the Madurai region, he would not hesitate to resign in order to stop it. But if the people of Cuddalore district are having their land taken away, he will simply fall silent and keep his mouth shut.
The current Chief Minister would abandon the airport project itself for the people of Parandur; but, without understanding the sentiments of the people of Cuddalore district, he is repeatedly ordering land acquisition. Seeing all this, the people of Tamil Nadu are asking: is what is happening in Tamil Nadu a TVK government, or an extension of the DMK regime? The truth is that even though the government has changed in Tamil Nadu, the scene has not changed. The Tamil Nadu government must immediately abandon the plan to set up a new SIPCOT in Cuddalore district, the NLC Mine 1 and 1A expansion projects, and the notifications for acquiring a total of 1,277 acres of land for them. Otherwise, I warn that the Pattali Makkal Katchi will mobilize the affected people and conduct a massive protest,” he said.
