The Human Rights Forum (HRF) calls on the AP government to desist from going ahead with acquiring a large extent of land by the coast in Ulavapadu mandal of Kandukur division in Nellore district for the purpose of a project of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). Pursuing this project would result in massive livelihood devastation in the area.
Following recent media reports that the government is to set up a 9 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) oil refinery-cum-petrochemical complex by BPCL in an extent of 6,000 acres and is also going to acquire a further extent of 10,000 acres for purported expansion of the project, a fact-finding team of the HRF, Rashtra Chenatha Jana Samakhya (RCJS) and Matsyakara Sangam visited the area on 24-2-2025. We spoke with residents of eight villages in three panchayats (Karedu, Chakicherla and Peddapattapupalem) in Ulavapadu mandal. All villages are on a strip of land between the sea and National Highway 16 with the Manneru river as boundary to the north and the Ramayapatnam Port to the south. We spoke principally with farmers, farm labour and fishers (known locally as pattapollu and pallekaarulu) and members of the yanadi Scheduled Tribe community who are resident in many villages and habitations in the area.
The predominant livelihood source in the three panchayats is farming and fishing. Farming is vibrant as there is an abundance of water sources in the three panchayats with ground water from borewells available at even 15 feet. The local Karedu tank has an ayacut of above 1,300 acres. The tank is also a source of fishing for pallekaarulu as well as yanadis in the area. There are also other tanks in the three panchayats that serve farming and keep a healthy water table like the Seetamma Cheruvu, Kotha Cheruvu, Gokula Cheruvu and Jammula Cheruvu each of which has an ayacut of 300-350 acres in which paddy is raised. Most residents in the area, including the fishers – pattapollu and pallekaarulu communities – primarily do farming. They raise paddy, groundnut, cotton, pulses and an assortment of vegetables. Some villages, like China Chakicherla, rely exclusively on fishing while most residents of Pedapattapupalem also set out and fish in the sea.
Understandably, the local people we met were uniformly and firmly against the project. They stated emphatically that a petrochemical project in the area with the attendant land acquisition and inevitable pollution will disrupt their economic life irredeemably and would destroy their means of livelihood comprehensively. In several villages there was anger and fear among the people that they would also be physically displaced from the area.
Local residents were also viewing with trepidation occasional surveys being done by the government including the deployment of drones. They stated that they were not informed in any manner about the project by the government and the whole thing was shrouded in secrecy. Ever since reports of the BPCL petrochem proposal began appearing in the media, local residents have collectively voiced opposition to it. Fisher-folk from several villages in the area passed a resolution against the project at a meeting in Alagayapalem on February 14.
Going by reports, to even consider acquiring such large extents of land (6000 acres with an addition 10000 acres for future expansion, for a 9 mmtpa project) for a petrochem refinery and complex is highly objectionable. To compare, the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL) Manali project of 10 mmtpa in Tamil Nadu is spread across only 800 acres. The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) unit in Visakhapatnam with a capacity of 15 mmtpa is located on about 900 acres. The 15 mmtpa refinery cum petrochem complex of the IOC at Paradip in Odisha is on 3350 acres. The reported land requirement (including expansion) for the present BPCL proposal by the Ulavapadu coast is outrageous. Why must land in such a large extent be acquired at evidently great cost to people’s lives and future?
Villages the team visited: Karedu, Kotha Pallipalem, Tenkayachetlapalem, Battisomaiah Pattipalem, Alagayapalem, Chakicherla Pallepalem, Pedapattapupalem, Balakotaiah Yanadisangam
VS Krishna – HRF AP&TG Coordination Committee member,
Y Rajesh – HRF AP State general secretary,
G Rohith – HRF AP State secretary,
M Mohan Rao – Founder-president, Rashtra Chenetha Jana Samakhya,
P Durga Rao – Matsyakara Sangam.
27-2-2025,
Nellore.