Set up the Nano car Plant at Goplapur in Orissa
R.P.Tripathy
Gopalpur near Berhampur City of Orissa was chosen as the location by the TATA group some 13 years ago for the biggest steel plant of India. Unlike Singur in West Bengal there was no such fierce opposition in Gopalpur over land acquisition and the state administration successfully acquired the huge tract of land, but even then the steel plant didn't come through. As a matter of fact, the TATA group is still in possession of the 3800 acres of land even today by the side of NH-5 and NH-217 and Howarh-Chennai main rail line near the upcoming Goplapur Mega port.
From a lay man's point of view, when so much hue and cry is created over 1000 acres of land in West Bengal for the Nano plant, why can't the TATA group consider Gopalpur in Orissa as an alternate location to house the Nano car plant? Seen otherwise, those people whose land was acquired by the State government and TATAs, showing them the dream of a huge steel plant where they will get jobs and there will be overall economic prosperity are now virtually begging in the streets of Berhampur city and elsewhere, having lost their livelihood and with no industry in sight. Won't it be logical now to give something to those people who lost their source of livelihood for the sake of the steel plant and in return got only miseries for their life time? Today there is no one to listen to their plight and no one is ready to take the responsibility for this fiasco. So, it reinforces the belief of a section of society who oppose industrialization under the pretext that it doesn't help those who suffer the most and eventually they prove to be correct in cases like this. To dispense the myth we need true corporate responsibility, patronage and commitment which are missing in the case of TATAs at Gopalpur.
So, it is high time that the possibility of locating the proposed Nano car plant at Gopalpur is explored. This would require zero displacement and the land being with TATAs would ensure its early commencement. If Gopalpur is not found suitable for the Nano car plant it must be ensured that the land under possession of the TATA group is returned to their owners, so that at least livelihood of thousands of families is not threatened and is brought back to normalcy
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