The CPM has demanded that the AP government tell the people of the state the facts on Reliance biogas plants. CPM State Secretary V. Srinivasa Rao has demanded that the government tell the people the facts on the 500 biogas plants to be set up by Reliance Company in the state.
The state government has announced that it will provide direct and indirect employment to 2.5 lakh people and will acquire 5 lakh acres of land. How much profit will the company get from these plants? How much will the farmers get out of it? He asked the state government to announce these details. In this regard, he raised the following questions:
1. What is the security of ownership of lands taken from farmers in the name of leases? Is it legal?
2. What is the condition of cattle breeders and agricultural laborers who depend on those lands for their livelihood?
3. What is the security of the people of the neighboring villages from the harm caused by methane and carbon dioxide produced in these plants?
4. The investment made in a plant in Kanigiri constituency will be fully recovered in 3 to 5 years. After that, the company will have 100 percent profits. Will the lease given to farmers increase? But by how much?
5. How much lease is being collected for government lands? How can government lands be collected at a lower lease?
6. What are the incentives and subsidies being given by the government to the Reliance Company biogas plant?
7. Will the gas and fertilizers produced by the company be given free of cost to farmers who have lost their lands and unemployed people? Will gas be provided to the people of the state on a subsidized basis?
Srinivasa Rao deplored that it is unfair and illegal to give farmers’ lands to the company on the pretext that crops are not being grown in fallow lands. Is this what people’s participation in development in the name of P4 means?, he asked.
He wondered, “Is development a corporate enterprise by looting people’s assets? Is it legal to dominate lands by paying a small amount of lease without acquiring land? He expressed fears that farmers are at risk of losing their lands permanently and if companies do not pay the lease, farmers will be left on the road.
The CPM leader recalled that the same Reliance company took 2,500 acres in Krishnapatnam 20 years ago and did not set up any project. He said that despite drilling for gas in Kakinada and Konaseema districts, Reliance has not provided employment to the local people. He said that it has not helped in the development of villages. Moreover, he questioned whether it is a fact that people are facing various problems due to pollution and the government should tell him?