SEZ: land acquisition process set in motion

Correspondent

Till now 4,800 acres purchased through direct negotiations

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The area acquired till now is only dry land, says district Collector
No official confirmation yet on shelving of ONGC project
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakinada: The district administration, after a long wait, has set in
motion the acquisition of land for the SEZ and the first batch of awards
involving nearly 600 acres of dry land have been passed paving the way
for acquisition.

Till now a total of 4,800 acres of land was directly purchased by the
SEZ management at a cost of Rs.3 lakh per acre, through direct
negotiations. Still another 3,100 acres are required for the SEZ.

Over by February

Within a week or so nearly 600 acres would be acquired and by February
next the balance area be acquired, said East Godavari Collector M.
Subrahmanyam while replying to queries at `Meet the Press' programme
organised by the Press Club here on Thursday.

He clarified that all the area acquired till now was only dry land and
only some patches involving 150 acres was under borewells.

Infrastructure

The Collector said there was some resistance from farmers, but by and
large the lands were purchased by direct negotiations. On the evacuation
of some villages as they fall in the SEZ area, the Collector said that
there were some villages but the total number of households getting
affected would be only 1,800.

ONGC project

The Collector said the KSEZ would develop the necessary infrastructure
and actual allotment of plots for export-oriented industrial units would
be done by the Development Commissioner in due course.

Regarding the uncertainty over the ONGC refinery, he said, there was no
official confirmation about the reported shelving of the project.

Port issue

When asked about the brewing controversy over the move of the shippers
to divert wheat shipments from the anchorage port to the deepwater port
in violation of the agreement, the Collector said that the wheat now
proposed to be handled was bulk cargo but not in bags.

As such it needed to be handled at the deepwater port as the anchorage
port did not have the infrastructure for such cargo.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/15/stories/2006121508510300.htm