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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Bhalia farmers gear up to oppose chemical plant

Bhalia farmers gear up to oppose chemical plant

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published Published on Oct 29, 2010   modified Modified on Oct 29, 2010

Farmers who grow the well-known Bhalia wheat variety in the southern Ahmedabad district are getting ready to resist plans for a chemical park in their premises — a project they had fended off 13 years ago.

A public hearing for the Bhal Industrial Park, slated to house 500 chemical units among a total 712 units, will be held on Friday.

Kantri Makwana, a farmer from Pishavada, a village which falls within a 10 km radius from the proposed site, said, “This land gives us a harvest of gold”.

A 10 kms radius from the location of any proposed project is normally studied for possible environment impacts. Thirty-five villages in four talukas fall within this 10 km radius in Bhal — home to the Bhalia variety of wheat. The cereal is grown using organic methods and fetches up to thrice the price of normal wheat in the market.

Khumansinh Jhala, a farmer from Nani Boru, one of the three villages situated on the site of the proposed park, said: “There was a public hearing for the same industrial park on February 8, 1997 at the very spot where Friday’s hearing will take place. We had opposed it for four years then and they left. Now they have returned and we will oppose them again.”

According to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report submitted by Gujarat (Bhal) Construction Limited — the project proponent — to Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), the industrial park will spread over 2,504 acres where “at present, no agricultural activity is carried out” — a claim hotly contested by farmers.

Villagers are also upset over what they see as preferential treatment — the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited has pledged 220 million litres per day to the park.

Jhala said: “The government promised the park this much water, and we receive drinking water once every three or four days. If we were to get this much water for our farms, it will be a bigger benefit.”

He added: “Why do hearings take place after the land has already been purchased and so much money has been invested? Which chemical industry has followed norms? What else did the Centre do to stop activities in Vapi?”

The EIA report estimates the necessary investment at Rs 16,029 lakh — of which Rs 3,000 lakh will be in the form of subsidies by the government, Rs 2,530 lakh as contribution by the developer, Rs 2,000 lakh by way of public issues or FDIs, and the remainder by the Association of Indian Forging Industries (AIFI).

The report further states that land for the project has already been bought, and that 60 per cent of it is a “wasteland”.

Jhala and the other villagers deny this, saying the “land is actually an area where the water drains out to the sea”.

An Ahmedabad NGO — Paryavaran Mitra — has also taken up the issue and written to GPCB pointing out various alleged anomalies in the 270-page EIA report, including the size of the land needed, as well as the shortcomings of some of the promises made to mitigate environmental effects.

Kantri Makwana added, “We have the paperwork ready and will see that they relent, or else we’re ready to do a Mahuva!” — a reference to the agitation by former BJP MLA Dr Kanu Kalsarai against the proposed Nirma cement plant in neighbouring Bhavnagar district.


The Indian Express, 29 October, 2010, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bhalia-farmers-gear-up-to-oppose-chemical-plant/704261/


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