Titanium project-memorandum by students of Law College
Residents of Sattankulam and Radhapuram villages in Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts, where the titanium dioxide project is to come up, do not want to sell their lands to the Tata Steel company, according to a memorandum submitted by students of the Coimbatore Law College.They are happy with whatever income they are getting from the palm trees and other crops.The students had interviewed a cross-section of the people recently to find out the facts. The students submitted the memorandum to Justice Shivraj V Patil, Member, National Human Rights Commission, here today.They also found that the villagers did not face any water scarcity even in dry seasons.The team members had visited 25 villages and spoken to 100 members of the general public and farmers said the lands which Tata group planned to acquire were farmland and they did not want to part with the land.“Ours is not wasteland or dry land. We have crops in the land," they said. Though the residents were not against the project coming up, they felt that the factory could come up in some other place where the land was not productive.They said if clearance was given for acquiring fertile agriculture lands for the project, it would adversely affect the livelihood of the farmers who depended on them.
