Now, official report claims public in ‘favour’ of Telangana pharma city

Of the 24 people who supported the project, 19 were public representatives of the TRS — Sarpanch, MLA, MLC or members of the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies.
Image used for representational purpose only
Image used for representational purpose only

HYDERABAD: Envirnoment Clearance for the proposed Pharma City on city outskirts has no more hurdles. The official minutes of public hearing held for the project last month at Medipally village in Rangareddy district is out and the number of people who support the project outweigh those who oppose it. However, as Express had reported, it does not reflect the genuine voice of those whose lands are being acquired. 

The minutes have listed opinions of 32 people who spoke at the hearing. Of this, 24 are in support and 8 have raised objections.  But the villagers, whose lands are being acquired for the project, did not get a chance to speak at the hearing. 

Of the 24 people who supported the project, 19 were public representatives of the TRS — Sarpanch, MLA, MLC or members of the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies. Three other supporters were office bearers of Telangana Association for Pharma and Chemical Industries  and Bulk Drug Manufacturers Association. Remaining two were from the civil society.

Eight of those who opposed the project include a retired scientist of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, a local journalist, an activist, residents from Warangal and public representatives of opposition parties — the Congress, CPM and BJP.The project will affect residents of 12 villages in Yacharam, Kandukur and Kadthal mandals of RR district. The official minutes, along with unedited video of the hearing, will be sent to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to obtain Environment Clearance. 

Most of the speakers at the hearing, irrespective of their political allegiance, only focussed on the issue of compensation, though the hearing was on environmental aspects. They either spoke on discrepancies in payment of compensation or about the inadequate amount that was being provided. 

For instance, Medipally MPTC M Srisailam said that new names had cropped up in the list of title holders for payment of compensation. Narasimha, Sarpanch of Meerkhanpet village demanded that adequate compensation should be paid by Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation for the lands it acquired. Jayamma of Mandal Praja Parishad, Manchal village raised a similar issue. All three supported the pharma city project. TSIIC, VC and MD, E Venkat Narasimha Reddy said in the hearing that till now, 6,900 acres of land has been acquired, of which 6,000 acres is government and government assigned land for which Rs350 crores has been paid as compensation.

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