“The industrial estate should be shifted to non-agricultural lands without disrupting farming activities. Nearly 900 acres of fertile land in ‘Thathanur’, ‘Pulipar’ and ‘Punjai Thamaraikulam’ panchayats have been earmarked for the industrial estate despite our opposition,” said M Velusamy, Tirupur district president of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, a farmers’ body.

The farmers’ union claimed that the government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a multinational company to implement the industrial estate project through SIPCOT at a cost estimate of Rs 2,500 crores.

Already, agriculture has been hit badly in Tirupur due to pollution caused by the Perundurai SIPCOT and discharge of effluents from dyeing units. The coming up of another industrial estate will further ruin farming, the only source of livelihood for over 5,000 families living in these villages. They fear that air, water and fertile soil will get polluted rendering them unfit for agriculture.

The farmers claimed that Athikadavu-Avinashi scheme has materialised as a result of their long-drawn struggle.

“While we are hopeful that the scheme may benefit farmers, the government’s plan to acquire our fertile lands for the industrial park has come as a shock.

If the government goes ahead with the implementation of the project, we will then resort to peaceful protests to protect our lands,” said Velusamy