CPI ministers red flag to CPM industrialisation bid

The CPM-CPI divide over industrialisation in Kerala has come to the fore once again with a CPI minister seeking the intervention of the party central leadership....

The CPM-CPI divide over industrialisation in Kerala has come to the fore once again with a CPI minister seeking the intervention of the party central leadership to prevail upon the CPMs desperate attempt to woo investors. CPI leader and Forest Minister Binoy Vishwom has written to party general secretary A B Bardhan,detailing the pitfalls of going ahead with four mega projects,to which the CPM has been raring to give clearance through the single-window system.

However,the ministers move,supported by the AITUC lobby,has irked the CPI leadership in Kerala. Party state secretary Veliyam Bhargavan has asked the minister for a clarification on why he wrote to the national leadership.

For the CPM,the opposition from the CPI has come at the most inopportune time. The party looked comfortable to take ahead the industrialisation after silencing Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan,who has been vehemently opposed to the mega projects with suspected real estate interests. The party had always blamed VS as the force thwarting investment. The single-window system was created recently at the behest of the CPM central leadership,which wanted the party-ruled state to catch upon investment.

The CPI is against the four mega projects the high-tech city of Shoba Developers in Kochi,knowledge park of Salarpuria Group in Kochi,the Birla Group8217;s integrated IT park and Malaysian firm Construction Industry Development Board8217;s Satellite City Project in Kozhikode. Together these companies have promised an investment of Rs 10,000 crore,although detailed project reports are yet to reach the state.

Vishwom claims these projects are being pushed through even without conducting detailed studies on their environmental impact. Besides,the investors have sought exemptions on key land utilisation rules.

A senior CPI leader said the party was yet to take a final decision. Job-generating investments are not the real motive of the investors. We have to go for a project-wise study. Real estate interest is the main driving force behind the projects, he said.

The CPI leader pointed out that though many firms had applied for SEZ status for their proposed ventures last year,none of them had turned up after the government introduced strict conditions for land utilisation. As the real estate interest would not flourish in Keralas SEZ policy,several firms had backtracked,he said.

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The CPI move has the backing of a report submitted by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board KSBB,which has warned the government against going ahead with the four mega projects,without conducting detailed studies. The board had singled out the two ventures in Kochi as detrimental for the fragile ecosystem in that region.

The Shoba and Salarpuria have sought reclamation of huge tracts of paddy fields,a practice strictly banned in the state. The other two projects in Kozhikode have been entangled in legal cases over land deals.