Mangalore: Gregory Patrao Says MRPL Claiming Rs 600 Crore Loss to Hide Corruption
Pics by Spoorthy Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network—Mangalore (SR/CN)
Mangalore, Jul 21: “The Rs 600 crore loss which Mangalore Refinery and Petroleum Limited (MRPL) is claiming to have suffered, is a trap to take away land easily from the farmer as he is the only obstacle to their projects”, said Gregory Patrao in a press meet held at Hotel Woodlands here on Wednesday July 21.
He claimed that corruption might be rampant and the massive loss claimed by the company might be a result of this which and the officials might be seeking to shift the blame on to the farmers.
Patrao alleged that this would help the MRPL officials to take away his land easily by claiming that they have occupied his land to compensate the loss caused by him to the company.
He added that such tricks wouldn’t help the company in any way as he is equipped with valid documents for every thing and entities like Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ), Karnataka Industrial Areas Developmental Board (KIADB), and MRPL are working on projects without valid documentation and permission from the court which is unconstitutional.
KIADB had acquired Patrao’s land without permission and handed it over to MSEZ on April 24, 2007, and now the land acquisition documents have been handed over to MRPL.
Patrao also said that the company is not concerned with development and that his family had given 5.54 acres of land in the past for the Konkan Railway project and various projects of MRPL.
He added that he doesn’t want to sacrifice all the land to the company as they have no proper planning and land occupied by MRPL was given to ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Limited (OMPL)-450 acres, BASF-250 acres, and Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL)-82.62 acres.
Patrao said that that the loss claimed by the company should be publicly discussed and the central vigilance commission should investigate to identify corrupt officials.
Krishi Bhoomi Samrakshana Samithi vice-president Hemalatha Bhat said that the company should redesign the project as this would spare Patrao’s land. She added that the green belt is not yet properly laid and this should be taken care of by the companies rather then trying tricks to acquire Patrao’s land.