Nagarjuna Construction Company Sompeta Thermal Plant
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Nagarjuna Construction Company Sompeta Thermal Plant was a 2640 MW coal-fired power plant proposed for Sompeta in Andhra Pradesh, India. In the wake of highly publicized protests and the killings of two local residents by police, the project's environmental clearance was revoked by the ministry of environment and forests in July, 2010.[1]
On January 18, 2011, Nagarjuna Construction Company announced that it had acquired a 55 per cent share in Chennai-based Nelcast Energy Corporation Ltd (NECL), which is developing a 1320 MW thermal project at Krishnapatnam in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.[2]
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July 2010: Resistance against Nagarjuna Construction Company's coal plant
On July 14, 2010, police in Adhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district fired on farmers and fisherman protesting a 2,640 MW coal plant under construction by Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC), killing two fishermen. In addition, 150 people were injured, including 45 policemen, during clashes between protesters and police. In the wake of the violence, police were deployed in about a dozen villages and banned assembly by more than five persons.[3]
The two fishermen killed were G. Joga Rao of Lakkavaram and G. Krishnamurthy (60) of Palasapuram. A fact-finding team headed by former Orissa high court judge P. K. Mishra issued the following account of the shootings:[4]
- "The firing was suddenly done from inside a police van on the Sompeta-Baruva road, on either side of which the fields are located. The police van started moving towards Sompeta, while the man inside continued firing from a close range. The bullets hit the victims above waist level, except two who were hit on the thigh and the ankle. Two persons--G. Joga Rao of Lakkavaram and Krishnamurthy of Plasapuram--died on the spot and five others, including a cameraman of a local television channel, sustained bullet injuries."
One blogger described the "crony capitalism" behind the project as follows:[5]
- "[This project] is being developed by Nagarjuna Constructions and it has on its board of directors the esteemed presence of P. Abraham who served as Chairman of EAC (Hydroelectric) and who in the same position approved environmental clearances for various projects which he was himself promoting as a director. He also sits on the board of companies promoted by those who promote the Kakarapalli project. Some of the promoters are marquee names in the Telugu press by now, namely Karvy’s Mr MS Ramakrishna and Matrix Prasad. Mr. P. Abraham also graces the director position in GVK, Lanco group and half a dozen other groups. The world is indeed a small place now. You run into the same names every day. Long live crony capitalism."
On January 19, 2011, Nagarjuna Construction Company
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References
- ↑ Trushna Udgirkar, "Nagarjuna Construction may relocate Andhra power project," The Economic Times, September 10, 2010
- ↑ "Nagarjuna Construction buys stake in proposed power plant," One India News, January 19, 2011
- ↑ "Srikakulam still tense after police firing," The Siasat Daily, July 15, 2010
- ↑ "Fishermen killed as cops open fire in Srikakulam," India Today, July 28, 2010
- ↑ "How Crony Capitalism Lead to the Kakarapalli tragedy," The Argumentatitve Indian, March 1, 2011
Related SourceWatch articles
- India and coal
- Community resistance against coal plants in Andhra Pradesh
- Proposed coal plants in India
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