Further info received: Quote Police Open Fire At Villagers Of Sompeta For Protesting Against Construction Of NCC Thermal Power Plant
Protest by villagers of Sompeta of Srikakulam (District of Andra Pradesh) against the inauguration of a proposed NCC thermal power plant took a horrible turn, with the police reportedly opening fire. Unconfirmed reports suggest 4 people people have died. Many people including media persons were injured. Above 2000 police & hundreds of NCC goons are on guard at the power station in Sompeta.The power station, which is being built by Nagarjuna group, has been opposed by local people as well as environmentalists. Unquote *Latest Update - Police started to beat up people who were picketing peacefully in their own lands. They had even got a legal injunction not allowing passage to Nagarjuna Construction Company. * *URGENT ACTION ALERT URGENT ACTION ALERT* --------------------------------------------------------------------- *2,000 STRONG POLICE FORCE IN COASTAL VILLAGES OF SRIKAKULAM* ***Condemn ‘Development’ with Force: Write to authorities to protect livelihoods** * *13th July, 2010: *The Government of Andhra Pradesh has deployed a two-thousand strong police contingent in the ecologically fragile villages of Sompeta mandal of Srikakulam district in order to push *forcible and unjust acquisition of land for the 2640 MW thermal plant by Nagarjuna Construction Company* Ltd. Section 144 has already been clamped in all the villages and it has been reported that the police have arranged for auto-rickshaws that have been roaming the villages with pre-recorded announcements threatening people that there can be no public protest from tomorrow since the Plant is all set to be ‘inaugurated’. The Srikakulam Collector and SP are also said to have visited the Mandal and have hinted to the people not to ‘come in the way of the company’s work’. The people are however agitated and determined to express their right to fully protest the unjust and violent ‘development’ imposed on them, despite such intimidation and a slew of fabricated cases registered against the villagers and activists. A few thousand families of *farmers, fish workers and other traditional labourers in over **30 villages* in the area have been stiffly resisting the Project, since its establishment would irreversibly destroy the ecology and threaten their livelihoods of people in a major way. They have been an on indefinite replay fast for the past very months. The organization of the local people Matsyakara Ikya Vedika (Fish workers United Forum) and Paryavarana Parirakshna Samithi (Environment Protection Committee), led by the women from numerous households are questioning the unjust displacement due to the Project. The people are determined to protect the precious water body ‘Beela’ in the abundantly fertile region which sustains the two-crop paddy farming and livelihood of a 1.5 lakh population living in the district. The thermal plant will also upset the fragile ecology of the entire area and severely undermine the marine catch and make life miserable for the people. The fisher-folk communities will also have their livelihood robbed if their access to the “beela” is taken away. Earlier experiences of fisher-folk living in the vicinity of the NTPC thermal plant and several other highly polluting industries in Visakhapatnam district is ample proof of the same. Even during the environmental public hearing for the thermal plant in August 2009, an *overwhelming majority of people strongly opposed the Project,* cutting across community, class, occupation and political party’ lines, People have also been organising countless rallies, dharnas, postcard and other peaceful campaigns against the thermal plant proposal since several months. The locals also come out in large numbers and expressed their protest against the Plant during the recent visits of National Convenors of NAPM, Medha Patkar and Sandeep Pandey to the district. *WRITE TO:* ** *Dr. Manmohan Singh* Prime Minister of India, 7, Race Course Road, New Delhi *E-mail: **[email protected]* *Dr. K. Rosaiah * **Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh, *Fax: *040 - 23452498,23454828 *E-mail: *[email protected] *Dr. Jairam Ramesh * **Hon'ble Minister Ministry of Environment and Forests, Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi *Fax: *011-24362222 / 24361727 *E-mail: **[email protected]* *Ms. Sonia Gandhi* **Chairperson, National Advisory Council *Fax: **011-23794616 / * * **E-mail: *[email protected] * * *R. R. Girish Kumar* Director General of Police Government of Andhra Pradesh *Ph:* 040-23235170 *Fax: *040-23296565 & 040-23296570 *E-mail:* [email protected] * * *Shri E. S. L. Narasimhan* Hon’ble Governor Government of Andhra Pradesh *Fax No: *040-23311260* *** *Email : [email protected]* *N. Srikanth, IAS.* **District Collector, Srikakulam *Email: *[email protected]** *Superintendent of Police* Srikakulam District *Email: *[email protected]** * Contact for details:* *Ramakrishnam Raju: 09866787299 (Hyderabad)* *Madhuresh – New Delhi (09818905316)* *Shrikanth (09179148973**)*** * * -- National Alliance of People’s Movements; National Office: Room No. 29-30, 1st floor, ‘A’ Wing, Haji Habib Bldg, Naigaon Cross Road, Dadar (E), Mumbai - 400 014; Ph: 022-24150529 E-mail: [email protected] Delhi Contact : 09818905316 -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
