Petition Letter: SEZ Expansion in Andhra Pradesh, India (to Andhra Pradesh State Government)

Petition Letter: SEZ Expansion in Andhra Pradesh, India
(to Andhra Pradesh State Government)

To:
Justice Shri B. Subhashan Reddy
Chairperson
Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission
Tele(o): 24601574 Tele(r):23223381
Fax: 24601573
E-Mail: aphumanrights@ap.nic.in

Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy
The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh,
'C' Block, 6th Floor, AP Secretariat
Office Phone: 23456698,23451805,23455205
Residence Phone: 23410333, 23410555, 23410666
Fax: (Off)23452498,23454828
E-Mail: cmap@ap.gov.in

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am highly concerned to know about the fate of the poor tribal and landless people of Midderevu, Ramalingapuram and N. M.Kandiga ST Colony in Nellore (in Tada) district of Andhra Pradesh, India, who are facing threats of imminent eviction and loss of livelihoods due to expansion of a port in Krishnapatnam and construction of a SEZ in Tada.

It is very alarming to note that 14 villages in Krishnapatnam are facing threats of imminent eviction and thousands of villagers are exposed to the threats of livelihood losses. These villages were mainly inhabited by poor landless tribal and traditional fisher folks who had poor assets and no land title. They depended largely on Common Property Resources (CPR) and fishing in back water and sea for survival. The eviction would result into complete destruction of their livelihoods and would expose them to extreme vulnerable conditions.

The state government had proposed a relocation site for four villages far away from the back water and sea which would jeopardise their livelihoods as fisher folks. Moreover, the landless fisher families, who would be victims of marine & back water pollution would not receive any compensation and/or rehabilitation. These poor villagers were largely uninformed about the expansion of the port during the planning and initial phase of allotment of land and no consultation took place at grassroots to enable them to voice their opinions.

I am aware that the new port would create very little employment opportunities for the local people as this would be highly mechanized and the activities in the port would result into large-scale pollution of surrounding environments. The dredging done by the authorities for expansion of the port had already destroyed the breeding ground of the fishes in the backwater and the fisher folks were suffering from poor catches. Expansion of port in Krishnapatnam has undermined food sovereignty of the villagers in that area.

I am further very much concerned about the violation of right to food and food sovereignty of 12 tribal and Dalit villages in Tada due to the construction of a SEZ in their locality. The Apache Company, which manufactured shoes for national & international markets, like Adidas, set-up a production unit in this SEZ. The Government provided 450 acres of land to this company in this SEZ and another 2000 acres of land would be gradually handed over to other companies for developing production units in this SEZ.

Due to the construction of this SEZ and fencing of nearby lands, the tribal people from 12 villages had no access to nearby grazing grounds, fields and water bodies, which resulted into chronic hunger and malnutrition. These tribal families were landless and had very poor assets for pursuing a safe and sustainable livelihood. They are entitled to receive government land on a priority basis as per land reform programme but in reality the reverse process is taking place as vast tracts of lands, surrounding their villages, are given to SEZ by the government, making it impossible for these tribal families to derive their livelihoods from CPR. The tribal families also lost employment as agricultural labourers when the government turned over the agricultural lands to the SEZ. I am also aware that there are very limited employment opportunities for these unskilled tribal people in the newly constructed SEZ.
In brief these landless tribal families remained invisible in the 'development' planning of the state government in this area but they became helpless victims of such development process.

On the basis of these information and in order to uphold rights and justice I would like to request you to take following measures immediately:

In Krishnapatnam:
• The violation of RTF should be immediately stopped in and around Krishnapatnam port by restricting further expansion of the port
• The rights of these landless tribal and traditional families over CPR should be duly acknowledged and reinstated.
• The victims of violations of rights in the above villages should be adequately compensated and rehabilitated. Rehabilitation should be adequate in economic, social and cultural terms.
• The government should immediately take steps to provide these fisher folks with a separate fishing harbour so as to ensure their food security.
• All development planning in this region should ensure effective participation of the villagers with a focus on participation of marginalized communities like the tribal and Dalit groups.
• The Government should clear all the loans of the fisherfolks.
• The Government should provide proper and adequate housing for the dispaced fisherfoks. These should be closer to the sea such that the community will still be close to their source of livelihood.
• The Government should provide the communities with a rehabilitation package of Rs 3,000 per month per family for the next 10 years. This shall be used by the communities to rebuild their lives and lost livelihood because of the displacement.

In Tada:
• The violation of right to food of these tribal people should be immediately stopped and the government should allot two acres of land to each tribal family for cultivation with an immediate effect.
• The rights of these landless families to receive adequate compensation/rehabilitation for the loss of livelihoods should be duly acknowledged and enforced by the state without further delay.
• The land should be given to landless families on a priority basis and the state should refrain from playing the role of intermediary in the land market between the big companies and the land owners for developing SEZ.
In the context of these two cases, I would like to highlight the states' human rights obligations which include strengthening the capacity of the poor to pursue livelihoods by providing them with resources, assistance and by facilitating their access to productive resources/environment. The macro economic policy of the state should not jeopardise the livelihoods of millions at micro level. I hope that the steps taken by you in these two cases would respect protect and fulfil the rights of the poor tribal and Dalits in krishnapatnam and Tada and would ensure their food sovereignty in a long run.

I would very much appreciate if you keep me informed about the future developments regarding these two cases in Nellore district.

Yours Sincerely,
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Sign the Petition
http://www.foodsov.org/html/petition07.php
Petition Letter to Andhra Pradesh State Government:
[List of Petitioners]

Petition Letter to the Social and Environmental Affairs Team of Adidas:
[Petition Letter] [List of Petitioners]

To read more about the results of the FFM, you can download the Speak Out:
http://www.foodsov.org/resources/apsez.pdf

To view the photo essay, please click here.

Reference:
People's Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS)
c/o PAN AP
P.O. Box 1170, 10850 Penang, Malaysia
Tel: 604-6570271/6560381 Fax: 604-6583960
E-mail: secretariat@foodsov.org