Give back closed Hindustan Zinc Limited lands to farmers: CPM

Visakhapatnam: After the Tamil Nadu government announced that the lands of the Sterlite Company would be taken back and would be distributed to the farmers, who had given their lands for the company, CPM demanding that the state government take similar steps in Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) lands also.

The farmers of Mindi, Chukkavanipalem, Mulagada, Nakkavanipalem and Yeduruvanipalem gave their lands for the establishment of Hindustan Zinc Limited at a cost of Rs 850 per acre. However, after the rapid urbanisation of the city, due to the severe pollution threat, the smelter was closed and the entire plant was taken over by the same Sterlite management.

“All the land losers sacrificed their lands assuming that their children would get jobs. However, after the plant was closed all the workers lost their jobs. The private management is now paying its efforts to commercialise the 365 acres of prime land. At present, the cost of the land is Rs 5 crore in and around HZL.

The state government also given its consent to construct shopping malls in the HZL lands during the International Partnership Summit – 2018. The CPM is demanding that the state government take immediate steps on the lines of Tamil Nadu government and hand over the HZL lands to the farmers who lost their livelihood for the smelter,” said CPM state executive committee member Ch Narasinga Rao.

The CPM is gearing up to conduct a public meeting at Mindi to discuss to finalise the agitation demanding that the government handover the HZL lands to the oustees only on June 3, he added.