As the date for the public hearing over the expansion of the Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) plant in Kadapa draws nearer, protesters have refuted the assurances and explanations from UCIL, alleging that they’re insincere attempts to placate local residents in the short term. Residents of five villages in Vemula mandal of Kadapa district, which will be affected by the expansion of the Tummalapalle uranium plant, had launched an indefinite strike on Thursday, demanding that UCIL must provide immediate employment, rehabilitation and compensation to everyone who has already been affected by the existing plant.
Demanding compensation and jobs for farmers who had lost their land and suffered losses, protesters said that lapses in the construction of the tailing pond of the plant had resulted in the plant’s waste seeping into the ground, leading to groundwater and soil pollution resulting in adverse impact on agriculture and people’s health in the region. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, officials at the plant denied that the plant was responsible for pollution. UCIL General Manager M Srinivasa Rao said that the care has been taken towards the tailing pond.
The officials also said that eligible beneficiaries who had lost their land will be compensated, and that “development works” will be taken up in the villages affected by the plant.
However, protesters from the affected villages have refuted the management’s claims and promises. Sivaramakrishna Reddy, YSRCP state joint secretary, who is also the leader of the UCIL Workers’ Union and part of the ongoing protests by ‘Uranium Affected Villages’, called the management’s statements misleading.
While the UCIL got the Union government’s clearance to set up the mine in 2006, the mine was formally inaugurated in 2012. “All these years, no proper compensation or alternative employment was provided for the affected persons. Now, as the public hearing for expansion approaches, they have given 8 posts, and called another 14 candidates for interviews. They (officials) are misleading the farmers and wasting time,” Sivaramakrishna said.
Similarly, in response to UCIL’s claims that it has spent Rs 3.92 lakh last year, and Rs 3.99 lakh this year on development work in the region, Sivaramakrishna said that such work has not been consistently carried out since the inauguration of the plant. “Only a little work has been done recently, and they (officials) are exaggerating it ahead of the public hearing,” he alleged.
While the management has reportedly said that the tailing pond is being fortified at a cost of Rs 37.22 crore, they have again refuted the allegations that the plant is responsible for pollution in the region. In spite of the UCIL’s assurances, protesters have reiterated that they will disrupt the public hearing for the plant’s expansion — scheduled for January 6 — unless the people already affected by the existing plant are compensated.
According to reports, the earlier land acquisition for the plant was allegedly done with heavy coercion, and the public hearings before the previous environmental clearances even saw police action against villagers.