Durgarajapatnam is a small village with 2388 inhabitants, lies adjacent to Buckingham Canal, very near to sea shore in Vakadu Mandalam of Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh. Important towns like Gudur is at a distance of 40 km and Vakadu at 10 km. It is surrounded with marshy land with tidal influence.

Road: Durgarajapatnam site is at a distance of about 33 km from Naidupet at

NH-5 (connecting Chennai to Kolkata). Durgarajapatnam has got another 37 km stretch black topped single lane road connecting NH 5 towards Gudur near Chillakur via Nellipudi,Chittedu, Kesavaram, Kadivedu, Mutyalapadu etc. This alternate route is advantageous for the Gudur bound traffic. Another road starting from Sullurpet joins the connecting road from Naidupeta to Durgarajapatnam after a distance 30 km. Thus the site is directly connected with NH -5 at three places (Sullurpet, Naidupet, and near Gudur) by three different existing roads.

Rail: Southern Central railway line passes very next to the NH-5 at about 30

km distance from the coast. However, major railway junction Gudur is 42 km.

Air: Chennai and Thirupathi are the Nearest Airports, which are

approximately 100 km and 110Km respectively, from the site.

The location of the port has been changed to

Tupilipalem to overcome objections with regard to environmental and forest clearances.

Total Land proposed to acquire : 5028 Acres

1. Land under Govt : 2152 Acres

2. Reserve forest Land : 948 Acres

3. Community forest land : 651 Acres

4. Patta land owned by locals : 1200 Acres(around)

FUTURE EXPANSION PLAN:

In addition to the proposed 5,028 acres for the port, another 9,700 acres around the port area have been earmarked for future requirements," a senior official confirmed. But these lands are not being shown for immediate acquisition as more than 50 per cent of it is private patta land owned by farmers. Since more than 2,400 acres of government land is also available around the port area, the administration is planning to use this for the ancillary industries and go for private land acquisition only when the demand arises.

Source : Times of India

Dated : 13th February 2014

The project will be developed as SPV model wherein the Centre would pitch in with 74% and the balance 26% would be the contribution from the state government. The projects are likely to cost around Rs. 7,500 crore.

Company Names or State Enterprises who completed the feasibility report : RITES Ltd(INDIA)

A 10-member HRF team visited several villages in and around the

Pulicat Lake on 12th of March 2014. It was said that a large portion

of the land being sought to be acquired for the proposed port (5,028

acres in the first phase) is actually located within the northern

boundary of the Pulicat Bird Sanctuary and its Eco-Sensitive Zone

(ESZ).

Apart from being an ecological treasure trove, the Pulicat Lake also

sustains the livelihood of thousands of fisherfolk, dalits and Yanadis

(STs) who depend on the bio-resources in the area. The port will

seriously undermine their livelihood. This valuable wetland, with its

rich biodiversity should have already been declared a Ramsar

wetland and further steps taken to conserve and nurture it.

VS Krishna (HRF general secretary)

B Narayana (HRF Nellore dist. Convenor)

Newspaper Articles

Source : Deccan Chronicle

Dated : 15th of August 2013

Newspaper Articles