Puducherry Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Sunday, July 30, 2023 took strong exception to Central Public Sector Enterprise NLC India Ltd’s (NLCIL) destruction of fertile farmlands for its expansion activities in Neyveli of Cuddalore district.
Speaking to reporters after offering prayers at Sri Natarajar temple in Chidambaram, Ms. Soundararajan said that crops were akin to life and she did not concur with the recent move of NLCIL to take possession of acquired lands.
The Lt. Governor wanted to know why the management of NLCIL had allowed a gap of 10 years for taking possession of acquired lands. NLCIL could have waited till the crops were harvested by the farmers. While NLCIL claims that they have already acquired the lands, the Minister for Agriculture has stated that the government had explicitly asked the farmers not to cultivate crops on the lands.
Ms. Soundararajan wanted to know why there was a gap between the State Government, the management of NLCIL, and the farmers. The NLCIL management could have prevented the farmers from cultivating the crops instead of destroying them, she said.
