Lignite Reserves In India
Rajasthan, Lakhimpur (Assam) and Tamil Nadu has deposits of Lignite.
Current issues of NLC India Ltd. (NLCIL) & Tamilnadu
NLC India Limited (NLC) (formerly Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited) is a NAVRATNA company, central public sector undertaking under the administrative control of the Ministry of Coal, Government of India.
It annually produces about 30 million tonnes of lignite from opencast mines at Neyveli in Tamil Nadu and at Barsingsar in Bikaner district of Rajasthan state.
Farmers and political parties are objecting to its recent land acquisition exercise that is at the heart of the raging controversy in the Neyveli district.
A row began at Melvalayamadevi after NLCIL moved to take possession of land, acquired a decade ago, by flattening standing paddy crops.
Farmers now demand higher compensation for their fertile land
They also raising questions over the sustainability of intensive mining operations on plots meant for agriculture.
They are not happy with the compensation they had accepted and received a decade ago.
While the public sector undertaking under the Union Ministry of Coal may have its own reasons for delaying taking possession of already acquired lands, the manner in which it sought to bulldoze through standing crops, has stirred unpleasant situation, across Tamil Nadu.
The build-up to the protests by the farmers began on July 26, after the NLCIL engaged over 30 earthmovers and flattened large portions of standing crops.
Farmers have been demanding that the NLCIL provide compensation as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which calculates the compensation at the rate of two times the market value in urban areas and four times in rural areas.
The NLCIL had acquired about 304 hectares of land from 2006 to 2015 in six villages abutting the mines. For one acre, farmers were given a compensation ranging from ₹2.6 lakh to ₹6 lakh.
While the farmers were given the compensation, the land remained with the farmers for more than a decade since NLCIL failed to take possession.
With the acquired land remaining unused by NLCIL, the farmers had started cultivating crops.
It was only in the last one year that NLCIL started the process of taking possession of the land. This is where the problem started.
Meanwhile, land prices have increased manifold and farmers who had enjoyed the benefits by cultivating crops are demanding a higher compensation from the company.
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