Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (NR)
Pics - Dayanand Kukkaje

Mangalore Nov 27: With various pro-farmer and agricultural bodies and NGOs agitating and expressing their outrage against the setting up of the Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ), the MSEZ company officials too on their part are now doing all they can, to project its advantages to the public at large.

MSEZ managing director and chief operating officer I S N Prasad addressing media persons here on Monday November 26, defending the mega Rs 35,000 crore project declared trying to placate all, that the company “is not purely a profit-driven venture,” and is intended to work on a “no-profit, no-loss” basis and that it was planned in the region to promote economic development.   

When a section of the media pointed out that the MSEZ officials were not functioning in a democratic manner while acquiring land for the project, Prasad responded by saying: “We do not like to acquire land forcibly.” He justified his stand by saying that the land acquisition process was totally bonafide. This is the first SEZ he informed, where the state has equity of 23%. Highlighting the various packages for evacuees he assured, they want to set an example by giving the best rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) package in the state.  However, ruling out completion of the process of R&R before commencing the SEZ, he clarified that logistics would not permit such an exercise.

Giving an assurance that they would set up a committee to oversee R& R, Prasad said that such a committee would have representatives from displaced families and evacuees. In all, he said there were 600 families who were displaced from 1,700 acres of land. The SEZ had already acquired 1,700 acres land and at present it was registered as sector specific. According to him, after they acquire additional land of 800 acres they will ask the Centre to register it as a multi-product zone SEZ (MP-SEZ) and clarified further that an MP-SEZ needed minimum of 2,500 acres, unlike IT/BT which requires merely 25 acres.

According to him the MSEZ was mooted primarily to give a boost to industry and commerce and was proposed by the local chambers of commerce and entrepreneurs. At this point the interaction became hot with concerns raised over the environmental impact of the project and the issue of human displacement.

Some press people pointing out that industrial enterprises such as these, had lost goodwill of the people and they cited the discouraging precedence set by some petrochemical and chemical companies in the region. Responding to this, Prasad conceded that there were mistakes during the MRPL project, but they would not want to repeat the mistakes committed by the MRPL, he replied. Currently the MRPL has a 26 per cent stake in the MSEZ project, he added.

With regard to a query on the re-location of religious places and some agricultural land coming within the SEZ, he said some religious structures fell within this and would be suitably re-located. He further contended that as per rules the SEZ should be a contiguous area, some percentage of agricultural land was falling within the SEZ. Rattling off figures he said of the total acquisition 23% was agricultural land of which only 5% of land is prime agricultural land with double crops while 3.5% is horticultural. Nearly 70% land is not fit for cultivation, Prasad revealed, adding that Thokur area was left out as it had more agricultural land.

With regard to doubts about use of water, in view of the dangerous water situation in the city during summer, Prasad said that four vented dams would be constructed across Gurupur and Nethravathi rivers to store water, apart from using 18 million gallons per day from sewage treatment plants. As for environmental concerns he said the company had taken the matter seriously, adding that guidelines and terms of reference were so rigorous it would be impossible to get permission unless the environment mitigation plan was robust.