Farmers oppose move to acquire land for industrial estate in Kovai

Several farmers fell at the feet of the Collector while making a desperate plea to prevent their lands from being taken over by Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO) for establishing the industrial estate. 

In a petition, T Venugopal, Coimbatore district secretary of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam said that TIDCO has proposed to acquire 3,800 acres in four revenue villages in Annur and two in Mettupalayam blocks. 

“Of this, 1,150 acres is owned by private firms, while 2,800 acres belongs to small and medium range farmers. For the proposed industrial estate, the state government has also appointed a special tahsildar,” he said. 

The farmers urged the district administration to scrap the project as they were hopeful of better prospects in agriculture with the ongoing works to implement Athikadavu-Avinashi Scheme. Already, 70 per cent of the water project scheme has been completed. 

These village panchayats have already passed resolutions against setting up an industrial estate and also held protests.