Thread by @sumanthraman

1.Hydrocarbon extraction
2.Sterlite
3.Kudankulam
4.Chennai-Salem Expressway
5.Neutrino
6.GAIL pipeline
7.Kattupalli Port
8.Uppur Thermal
Each one of these projects stalled/delayed.
Tamil Nadu is on its way to becoming a Kerala or Bengal. Oh! Kerala allowed GAIL & Vizhinjam Port

Those who say Kerala has highest social/educational indicators need to understand theirs is a remittance economy sustained by inflows from Gulf. 36% of Kerala's GDP is Gulf money. Without this their per capita income wd be half that of TN or at best 2/3rds.

Despite Gulf money per capita income of Kerala is less than TN. With a jobs crisis in Gulf due to the pandemic and falling Oil prices Kerala will face the moment of truth sooner than later.There is almost no project that causes zero environmental damage.

No highway has ever been built without trees being cut or land being acquired. No SEZ has ever been developed without land being acquired.Of course environmental protection is important. That is why we ask for safeguards. That is why there is an NGT. If Govt officials

are corrupt & ignore rules,solution is to hold them to account not stop all projects. Everyone of us including the protesters now travel on highways built by cutting lakhs of trees&on land acquired from farmers. Lakhs of our youth work in the same SEZ that were once paddy fields

Our economic prosperity today is to a large measure due to the vision with which both AIADMK and DMK supported Industrialization of TN. For many of the projects listed above there is almost no evidence of major environmental damage. (eg.Neutrino, GAIL pipeline etc.)

A frenzied media campaign and Whatsapp forwards based on half truths is today sufficient to derail any major project in TN. This is dangerous. People need to ask themselves once industry goes elsewhere whether the protesters will feed them.Think about one important fact.

For none of these projects is the demand for better safeguards,better monitoring,a deviation in route etc. It is ONLY for scrapping entire project.People of TN need to decide if they want to bite the hand that feeds them.And yes,part of my land was acquired too for a highway

For all those crying for farmers, remember agriculture contributes 9% of our GDP,industry and services over 70%. Our prosperity in TN today is because of services and manufacturing. Farmers need to be given fair compensation and land must be acquired only when essential.

And land must be taken by Govt only for public purposes and not for private Industry.But our youth in particular need to think about the future they want for themselves &their children.Every country battles to find a balance between development &environment & we need to do so too

But swinging from one extreme to another is not the solution. A middle ground needs to be found. Improving the quality of living of the poor (incl farmers)is most important. Giving our youth the best opportunities is vital for their future. Hopefully good sense will prevail.

9.Defense Corridor also.