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The
Government of Andhra Pradesh has acquired 340 acres of village
common lands, 70 acres of temple lands from the Endowments
Department and 500 acres from the local Gram Panchayat – China
 Mambattu of
the Tada Mandal in Nellore District to set up a Special Economic
Zone here. Some private industrialists have purchased another
100 acres of agricultural lands in the vicinity. 400 acres of
the SEZ have being given to Apache to set up a shoe factory.
Three
hamlets of the panchayat, N.M. Kandrika, China Mambattu and Peda
Mambattu are being affected by this SEZ. There are weavers,
shepards, barbers, washer men and women and Yanadi tribals
living in these villages. The most vulnerable among these are
the Yanadis because they do not have any land ownership making
them ineligible to receive any kind of compensation in lieu of
the displacement caused by the SEZ. The question of such
communities and their livelihoods which are non farm based and
dependent on natural resources and Community Property Resources
is the most crucial one here.
Bandi
Polamma, a member of the Yanadi community says that because
of the land being sold they are losing their daily wages. The
water bodies too are either being taken over by the company or
are being polluted as a result of which fishing is becoming
increasingly difficult as a livelihood option. Apache is setting
up a fence which is making it difficult to access the forest
which was a source for firewood. The tribals used to earn a part
of their income by selling firewood. Hence the life and
livelihood of this community is getting seriously affected due
to the setting up of the shoe company here.
The
local community facing displacement was promised jobs, education
for their children, etc. However, it turns out that all promises
were false. The displaced people have been left to fend to for
themselves. Only two women have got sweeper’s job in the
Apache shoe factory! The people feel let down and are in a
public hearing organized in
Nellore
on
31st January, 2007
by Andhra Pradesh Vyavasaya Vruthidarula Union and Andhra
Pradesh Matsyakarula Union they have expressed their intention
to wage a struggle for their basic rights. Earlier a public
hearing organized by the Government on 6th January turned out to
be a sham as no people were allowed inside the hearing.
The
people are demanding that every family displaced by the SEZ must
be provided 2 acres of agricultural land with irrigation
facility within the Panchayat limits, a housing site with low
cost house built by the government, fishing nets worth Rs. 3000,
one bicycle and a compensation of Rs. 10,000 per annum for the
next 25 years.
At
the same public hearing people from the Midderevu
village
of
Muthukur Mandal
of the same district also presented their woes. 1329.43 acres of
land in three Panchayats, Krishnapatnam, Muthukur and
Thamminapatnam is being acquired by the Government to set up
Krishnapatnam
Greenfield
Port
and Krishnapatnam Ultra Mega Power Project.
Midderevu
village is next to Kandaleru creek and
Bay of Bengal
. Land along seashore is used for parking of boats, nets,
catamarans, etc. People use common lands for grazing and
firewood collection. They have also planted casurina in ten
acres along the seashore. The village was hit by Tsunami and was
only beginning to recover from the economic shock. In violation
of the CRZ regulations, the villagers are being asked to cut the
casurina plantation now. They are being asked to resettle at a
distance of 7 km from the seashore and the local district
collector has promised jobs for every youth.
180
families living in the village, including 20 Yanadi, mostly
depend on fishing for livelihood. They are completely baffled by
the idea of doing fishing from a distance of 7 kms. The fish
move in groups and the colour of the sea is to be watched on a
regular basis to determine when to begin the fishing operations.
Parking of boats and gear would become a problem. In addition
they would have to buy wood and fodder, imposing extra burden on
their income. The people of Midderevu also face the dilemma of
how to repay the Rs. 38 lakhs loan they had collectively
borrowed from fish merchants in the post-Tsunami phase on the
condition of supplying their catch.
People
of Midderevu would not get any compensation because they do not
own any agricultural land. Their traditional occupation has been
fishing. But the existing legal framework doesn’t recognize
fisher people’s right over the sea, for payment of
compensation.
The
people of Midderevu are determined in their resolve not to be
displaced before the promises being made to them are fulfilled.
They want that each family being displaced be given 2.5 acres of
agricultural land, house constructed for them with a cost of Rs.
1 lakh, a compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs for forgoing fishing
(rights) on the sea and adequate compensation for all
plantations in the households and along the sea. Collectively
they want repayment of Rs. 38 lakhs loan by the government on
their behalf to the fish merchants, construction of fishing
harbour for safe parking of boats and gear and provision of
basic infrastructure like roads, drinking water, electricity,
schools and community hall, etc, at the resettlement and
rehabilitation site.
The
demands being made by the people of China Mambattu and Midderevu
are quite legitimate considering that most of the families may
be forced to completely alter their lifestyles and livelihood
options. The respective compensation package being demanded
in the two cases will at least ensure that the families will
have a one generation cushion to rehabilitate and resettle
themselves. But since the authorities are not known to be very
sympathetic to the people facing displacement in such cases, it
is unlikely that the demand will be met easily. However, as
increasingly more and more communities are awakening to their
traditional rights under threat from modern development
projects, in particular, and their human rights, in general,
they are throwing up more resistance all over the country. The
Government will ignore these democratic resistances and demands
at its own peril.
 The
author is a recipient of Ramon Magsaysay Award (2002), former
faculty member of IIT Kanpur and is a national leader of
National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM). Postal
address: Dr Sandeep Pandey, A-893, Indira Nagar, Lucknow-226016.
India
Phones: +91 522 2347365, 94150 22772 Email: ashaashram@yahoo.com
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