9 September 2008
Special Correspondent
THE HINDU
CUDDALORE: Madras High Court judge K. Venkataraman handed over cheques for Rs. 1.83 crore to those who had given land to the SIPCOT Industrial Estate at a Lok Adalat held at Chidambaram near here on Sunday.
The judge said that before a court case was filed, the possibility of reconciliation should be explored, because it might take years to resolve disputes through civil suits.
The lok adalat, he said, was a mechanism that would help in speedy disposal of cases.
District Revenue Officer S. Natarajan said the land was acquired for the SIPCOT Industrial Estate in 1999. At that time, a compensation of Rs. 39,000 an acre was given. But, the owners of 91 pieces of land at Periapattu filed cases seeking more compensation. These cases were taken up by the Lok Adalat and a compensation of Rs. 3 lakh an acre for cashew growers and Rs. 2.55 lakh for others was fixed.
Mr. Natarajan another 470 cases relating to land acquisition for the industrial estate at Andarmullipallam and Kayalpattu in Cuddalore district were pending disposal.