The Hindu (Vijayawada)

Hassled by industrial pollution, villagers call for boycott of elections

Residents of Gandepalli village of NTR district say that despite repeated pleas to the authoritie­s, Sentini BioProduct­s Private Limited factory, which has been causing crop loss as well as dust, air and water pollution, has not yet been sealed

- Nellore Sravani

In the absence of any solutions for the issue of water and air pollution caused by the Sentini BioProduct­s Private Limited in their village, locals of Gandepalli in Kanchikach­erla mandal of NTR district have decided to boycott the ongoing elections, if the factory is not sealed.

While the factory, set up in 2008, prides itself on being a contributo­r to the Centre's Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme, launched in the country in 2003 to reduce dependency on fossil fuel, the process of manufactur­ing ethanol has been detrimenta­l for the village.

“We have been repeatedly writing to the o…cials regarding crop loss and dust, air and water pollution in the village,” said Sarpanch Bokka Ravi Kumar, who wrote a letter to the NTR district administra­tion that they would boycott the elections if their demands are not met.

It may be noted that a 2022 Lokayukta enquiry revealed that the factory was polluting the irrigation canals and rivers and damaging nearby crops.

“Hundreds of lorries continue to pass through the village main road every day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. We demand that the industrial tra…c be diverted to another route. The factory has to take up developmen­t activities in the village as part of its Corporate Social Responsibi­lity and pay compensati­on to farmers for damaging their crops on more than 70 acres. Illegal drawing of groundwate­r for its operationa­l purposes should be stopped immediatel­y,” Mr. Ravi Kumar wrote in the letter sent on May 6.

More than 70% of the village, with a population of 3,476 as per the 2011 Census, has extended support to the Sarpanch, said M. Muralidhar Reddy, a farmer who said that the villagers want the factory to be shut down for good.

“The management has o›ered to take their agricultur­al elds on lease. We do not agree to it,” he said.

Responding to the developmen­t, Human Rights Forum (HRF) State secretary Gutta Rohith said that it is a testament to the government’s criminal apathy toward the villagers, who have been raising the issue democratic­ally for the last 15 years, and thus, are now being compelled to boycott the biggest democratic event of the country.

 ?? G.N. RAO ?? A farmer pointing at the sludge-filled irrigation canal, less than a km away from the factory, at Gandepalli village, NTR district.
G.N. RAO A farmer pointing at the sludge-filled irrigation canal, less than a km away from the factory, at Gandepalli village, NTR district.

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