Farmers continue to oppose JSW plant

An attractive compensation package and a share in the company do not seem to convince the local farmers who are opposed to the proposed JSW alumina refinery plant at Vizianagaram district.

The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board conducted a public hearing on the matter this Monday.

"The opposition to alumina project is politically motivated. The public hearing was conducted to discuss the pollution and environmental aspects, but no one talked on these issues. We have even offered equity in the company to the farmers who will lose their land, which is the first of its kind in the country," said P Vachaspathi, general manager, JSW Aluminium Project.

Political parties including Left and Telugu Desam, local non-governmental organisations like Samata and Andhra Pradesh Girijana Sangam and tribals have been against this project right from the very beginning.

According to the MoU with the state government, JSW will invest Rs 4000 crore to set up a 1.4- million tonne alumina refinery at the bauxite mining area.

The Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation will supply 4.2 million tonnes of ore every year from bauxite mines, located in the agency area of Visakhapatnam district.

The Left parties and the local NGOs are mainly opposed to bauxite mining, which they say would cause ecological imbalance in the forest area.