Fishing villages protest Orissa PCPIR

19-Dec-11

A district wide socio economic survey is being conducted by the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Regions (PCPIR), in preparation of the master plan of the Kakinada PCPIR. All the fishing villages under the PCPIR project purview, are planning to set up a platform to fight against the proposed corridor. They have decided to conduct such awareness camps in all the affected villages and passed a resolution to set up a coastal area protection council. The PCPIR, which would come up in 603, 58 sq.km (60,358 hectares) in 110 revenue villages of 10 mandals in East Godavari and Visakhapatnam, would have five notified SEZs as part of it. The processing area would in 270 sq.km and the five SEZs with in PCPIR would be in an extent of 7203 hectares. About 89 villages in seven mandals of Visakha and 21 villages in three mandals of East Godavari come under the PCPIR purview, which is the largest in the country. The Special Development Authority (SDA) of PCPIR has allotted the preparation of master plan to a foreign based consultant Lee Associates for Rs 5 crore, which would conduct the survey and collect the data of air pollution and traffic congestion, socio economic factors, livelihood involving in the affected villages and other aspects. But the fishermen in the three mandals are opposing the survey itself. They said they would not only lose the livelihood, but also their land.