82% farmers against Reliance SEZ land acquisition: Samiti

Press Trust of India

Alibaug, Oct 6: Most affected farmers and landowners of the proposed Reliance Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in neighbouring Raigad district are against the project, the organisation spearheading the agitation against the SEZ has claimed.Though the government has not yet declared any result on the referendum conducted last month, SEZ Sangharsh Samiti chief Mr ND Patil declared the result on the “basis of information sought by it”.

“About 82 per cent of farmers are not in favour of SEZ,” Mr Patil said in a Press conference here.

“The Samiti has decided to wait till 21 October since all the farmers are busy with rice crop and then decide the further line of action,” he said.

The government has not yet come out with the result of the referendum, an official from the collectorate told PTI.

About 18,000 landowners and farmers from 22 villages voted on the issue on 21 September. Farmers of these villages had opposed the project stating theirs was arable land due to the Hetawane dam located in the area and as such could not be acquired for the SEZ.

But the confusion about the referendum is still not over with chief minister Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh's statement made last week, that the poll conducted in Raigad was not a referendum and no such referendum will be conducted for any SEZ in future.

Source: The Statesman, 7 October 2008