Inland container yard project suffers a setback.

The inland container yard proposed at Kadakola to cater to industries in Mysuru and surrounding areas is fraught with risk of being disbanded owing to an impasse on land acquisition and compensation issues.

The green field project for which the tender has already been awarded by the Container Corporation of India (Concor) has hit a last minute roadblock with farmers adamant on being allotted jobs in lieu of land acquired from them.

A meeting with Pratap Simha, Mysuru MP; Anup Dayanad Sadhu, group general manager, Concor; Deputy Commissioner Abhiram Sankar, and others was held in Mysuru on Saturday to resolve the impasse but it failed to yield concrete results as the farmers stuck to their stance of jobs in addition to compensation already paid to them towards land acquisition.

In all, 55 acres of land were acquired by Concor at Kadakola through the KIADB. The compensation rate varied between ₹21 lakh to ₹32 lakh per acre but farmers are now seeking jobs, said Mr. Sadhu. “But we are unable to accommodate their demands as Concor – being a lean company – does not have class 4 jobs,” he added. The contractor has been waiting for two months with men and material at Kadakola but is unable to commence work. This may land Concor in legal trouble. “If the contractor quits and goes for arbitration we may have to compensate him, besides calling for fresh tenders and the entire process will be delayed,” said Mr. Sadhu.

Concor has also tried to prevail upon KIADB and the district administration to accommodate the farmers’ demand and compensate them in any other suitable project. Meanwhile, the CMD of Concor is expected to meet the Chief Secretary of Karnataka to thrash out the issue in the first week of January.

In case the issue is not resolved, Concor may drop the project altogether. This would be a major setback to the industrial infrastructure for Mysuru, Nanjangud and surrounding regions. The Kadakola facility would have been Concor’s second such facility in Karnataka after Whitefield. It entailed an investment of ₹100 crore.

The inland container yard at Kadakola was expected to provide a single window facility for export-oriented industries with all facilities for custom clearance and other formalities under one roof. The lead time for transportation and the cost involved, would also have reduced giving a boost to engineering and manufacturing units, coffee exporters, electronic manufacturers, etc.

THE HINDU