CPI State Executive Committee member T. Madhu on Saturday appealed to the State government to consider conducting a public hearing on environmental, socio and ecological impact on the local communities and coastal ecology due to the proposed Bulk Drug Park (BDP) in the Kakinada Special Economic Zone (KSEZ).
The government proposed to set up a Bulk Drug Park in about 2,000 acres at K.P. Puram and Kodhanda of Thondangi mandal in the KSEZ in Kakinada district.
On September1, the Department of Pharmaceuticals had, in principle, approved the project with a maximum financial aid of ₹1,000 crore from the Centre under the ‘Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks’. The State government would have to submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR) within 90 days.
The CPI and the A.P. Rythu Sangham had completed a joint survey covering 70,000 people in the 40 project-affected habitations on the impact of the project on their livelihood, ecology and coastal ecosystem.
“The proposed project area falls in the KSEZ. The area is a thriving zone for fish hatcheries that employ more than 15,000 local people. The State government should consider conducting a public hearing on the impact of the project on various aspects - coastal ecology and habitations,” said Mr. Madhu.
“The protests will be intensified if the government attempts to avoid conducting a public hearing citing that the area falls in the SEZ,” he asserted.
Mr. Madhu added that the Bulk Drug Park would destroy the coastal belt and disrupt the lives of the fisherfolk in the Kakinada district.
CPI district secretary B. Bodakonda, A.P. Rythu Sangham district secretary S. Raju and other leaders on Saturday created awareness among the locals on the project at Tirumalapuram, A.V. Nagaram, Butchayyapeta, Gandipeta and Avulamanda villages in the district.
