Residents oppose move to expand SIPCOT complex near Cheyyar

Residents staged a protest outside the SIPCOT complex near Cheyyar here on Thursday against the proposed phase-3 expansion project.

Residents said they had been protesting against the project, considering its potential impact on cultivable lands, for more than three years. In February, they stopped revenue officials from conducting land surveys for enumerating available assets such as tree cover and buildings, as part of the land acquisition process.

“No work related to the project will be permitted at the SIPCOT complex. We will continue to protest against it,” said S. Muthu, a farmer.

As per the plan, 3,174 acres of land will be acquired from nine farming villages — Melma, Narmapallam, Kurumbur, Thethurai, Nedungal, Athi, Vada Alapirandan, Veerapakkam and Lianeerkundram — for the phase-3 project, which began more than a decade ago, in the Anakavoor panchayat union near Cheyyar.

Persistent opposition

Residents of the affected villages had been protesting against the land acquisition since July 2023. Twenty-one persons who took part in protests were arrested in November 2023, and seven of them were detained under the Goondas Act. Later, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin revoked the charges against them in January 2024.

Revenue officials said the government would provide a compensation of ₹18 lakh per acre of land that would be acquired for the project to the beneficiaries. Loss of assets such as trees, farm wells and buildings would also be compensated, they said.