Opposition to MSEZ gets organised

The opposition for the Mangalore Special Economic Zone project has taken a new turn with the formation of a 'Agricultural Land Protection Committee (ALPC)'.

The committee has been set up by members of the four-affected villages whose lands are under the threat of acquisition for the MSEZ project.

According to M Madhukar Amin, president, ALPC, the process of land acquisition would be protested. The recent statement of INS Prasad, MD, MSEZ, that 95 per cent of the people were ready to give up lands for a price and that only 23 per cent of the land sought to be acquired are 'agricultural', was far from truth.

The villagers had no clue as to the kind of projects coming up and the places of 'historical, cultural and religious importance' were under threat from the proposed project.

Claiming support from elected representatives of the area and the district in"�charge minister B Nagaraja Shetty, Amin, said 'land sharks' and 'brokers' had already started making rounds of the area.