Extending support to farmers protesting against the acquisition of farmland for the proposed Phase-III project of SIPCOT near Cheyyar in Tiruvannamalai, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Wednesday said that the government should carry out such projects on wastelands instead of cultivable lands.
Addressing mediapersons on the sidelines of the protest staged by his party, Mr. Ramadoss said the PMK would strongly oppose the acquisition of cultivable lands for industrial purposes in the State. “We always extend our support against acquisition of farmland for industrial purposes. For instance, the Chennai–Salem Expressway project was put on hold by the State government after the PMK strongly opposed acquisition of agricultural lands for it,” he said.
He said that though Tiruvannamalai, one of the most backward districts in the State, needed such industries for growth, economic activity and employment, development should not come at the cost of agriculture. As per the United Nation’s estimates, he said Tamil Nadu would face food crisis in the next decade. In such a situation, the State government should encourage farming among rural youth instead of acquiring cultivable lands in the name of industrial development.
