Acquiring residential lands for SIPCOT wrong: PMK

CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss has opposed the government’s move to acquire land near Avadi for creating a land bank for SIPCOT and warned that 10,000 families will become internal refugees alleging that the acquisition is planned in residential areas.

In a statement, Anbumani said the plan is to acquire 626 acres of land. In its first budget session, the present DMK government announced the creation of a land bank of 45,000 for future industrial projects. “Following the announcement, SIPCOT has decided to acquire 626 acres along the Outer Ring Road in Vellanur and Kummanur. Residents are worried that SIPCOT has written to the Tiruvallur district collector to take steps to acquire the property,” he added.

Saying that the land under consideration is a residential locality, Anbumani warned that 10,000 families will be affected. Vellanur and Kumma- nur are becoming real estate destinations as people who cannot buy property in Chennai prefer the villages, he said.

“Of the 488 acres pro-posed to be acquired in Vellanur, 428 acres fall under residential areas. There are more than 2,000 houses and 5,000 plots apart from educational institutions and MSME units. Similarly, of the 138 acres proposed in Kummanur, 134 acres are in residential locality,” he pointed out.

Saying that PMK is not against the industrial development of the State, Anbumani added that the government was earlier acquiring poramboke lands. “Later, agricultural lands were targeted. Now, the government is trying to acquire residential areas.

This shows the government’s indifference towards people. The government should ac- quire unused land for the land bank. PMK will organise a protest if the government re- fuses to drop the acquisition in Vellanur and Kummanur,” he warned. In a separate statement, party founder S Ramadoss condemned the murder of a senior citizen in Tirunelveli for not paying back the money in an alleged case of usury (Kanthu Vatti). He urged the government to ensure severe punishments for those practising usury by enacting legislation apart from taking action against the murderer of the senior citizen.