Andhra to snatch 1 lakh acres of land from farmers for minor port

In a major blow to the farmers of his state, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minster Chandrababu Naidu’s government has decided to deprive them of another lakh acres of farmland, this time for the development of a minor port called Bandar Port.

 Yes, for a minor port.  

Amid opposition from all political parties, the AP cabinet today approved a proposal for the pooling of land for Machilipatnam Development Authority under the controversial Land Pooling Scheme (LPS).

While just 40 thousand acres have been pooled from farmers for the state’s world-class capital Amaravati, now, for a minor port, the government is planning to take 1 lakh acres under the same LPS.

According to minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy, who briefed the media after the cabinet meeting at Vijayawada, the port and an industrial corridor will come up in an area of 429 sq km covering 29 villages.

All the farmers have to forego their agricultural and aqua-cultural land in the area to make room for the port and industries. “This is a social disaster” says Vadde Shobhanadriswara Rao, former agriculture minister and a well-known expert on agricultural economy. But minister Reddy counters this by saying this land was dry, not wet category as in the case of Amaravati. 

Nowhere in the world, forget India, had a port been developed using more than five thousand acres, Rao said.

“In India, important major ports are developed on small areas. The Madras port covers an extent of just 500 acres while Cochin is on 2000 acres. Goa uses 530 acres for its port. And New Mangalore port was developed on 1908 acres.

Even if an industrial area is considered under the project, it should not take beyond five to six thousand acres,” he said, stating that the project looks like a real estate venture. Amaravati, according to Rao, created a social disaster for farmers, tenant farmers and agricultural labourers.

But their cries had got buried under the din of state government’s multimillion spectacular Amaravati propaganda, he added. 

Admitting that development does need some sacrifice from the land owners like farmers, he said, in Andhra Pradesh, however, the land pooled is unbelievably vast and disproportionate to requirements.

“In that case, government ought to convince the farmers by promising attractive compensation as per the central Land Acquisition Act ,2013. Land pooling in the Machilipatnam port area is not acceptable.

The development near the port can’t be compared to the Capital area. The developed plot (1000 sq yard residential and 250 sq yard commercial per acre), which are promised by the government here do not yield the same benefits as in Amaravati ,” he said.

Rao recalled that the development of the port was not a new idea. “When YS Rajasekhar Reddy was chief minister government offered 4300 acres for the port.

The then collector Raghunandan Rao had identified 2300 acres of government land and 2200 acres from farmers. Now the TDP government wants to pool a whopping 1.05 lakh acres, which is highly objectionable,” Rao said extending his solidarity to the farmers opposing the land pooling.

The Left parties have also opposed LPS and the extent of land earmarked for the Bandar Port. CPM state secretary P Madhu said a coalition of Left parties would be formed to oppose the land pooling.