M'shtra: Raigad residents move HC on SEZ

Mumbai, June 8: Six residents from Raigad district have moved the Bombay High Court against proposed Mumbai-Integrated Special Economic Zone (MiSEZ) -- also referred as Maha-Mumbai SEZ, promoted by Nikhil Gandhi and others, alleging that fertile pieces of land under cultivation are being acquired only to enable private companies to reap profit under the SEZ policy.

The petition will come up for hearing next week before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Swantater Kumar and Justice S C Dharmadhikari.

The main objection is that the SEZ policy has been implemented only to facilitate the private companies reap profit from developmental works.

According to the petitioners, the acquisition proceedings undertaken presently by the state government for the companies are illegal as under provisions of Land Acquisition Act lands can be acquired for private companies only for housing of their employees.

The petitioners also contended that land of poor farmers cannot be acquired for vague purposes, as nobody knows what the promoters of the SEZ are going to do with the land and it is not clear whether the lands will actually be utilised for the purpose for which those are being acquired.

Claiming that the present acqisition will result in uprooting of 90,000 people not only from their sole source of livelihood but of their dwelling places as well, the petitioners seek to cancel the approval granted by the state government to the proposed SEZ.

Apart from that, the petition also seek to challange the SEZ Act itself. The petitioners have contended that the present acquisition goes against the declared policy of not to acquire lands under cultivation, as most of the lands which are being acquired are fertile lands under cultivation and many farmers are taking double crops, apart from the fact that to water most of the agriculture land in question state government has taken up two irrigation projects.

The MMSEZ is proposed on 11,696 hacters of agriculture land in three talukas of Pen, Panvel and Uran in Raigad district. The petition states that the 24,000 crore project will displace 45 villages from these talukas and will affect about 2 lakh population apart from depriving the farmers of their fertile land where presently double crops are taken.

UNI