About 3,417 hectares of the land that Reliance wants to buy is irrigated. The problem of land acquisition is also compounded by the fact that the over 75 per cent of the landowners own less than one acre of land.

In every village, titleholders of the plots will walk into polling booths and submit their votes to the election officers -- six in each village and of the rank of Tehsildar -- orally or in writing. Those who do not want to vote for or against the SEZ may choose the third option of “neither of the above.”

Before they cast their votes, a grampanchayat member, the Talati and a representative of the “anti-SEZ” committee -- a local group of villagers led by Peasants and Workers Party -- will verify the credentials of the titleholders. The result is expected to be declared the same day. Since the announcement of the SEZ project in 2004, Reliance has already procured 23 per cent of its total requirement of 14,000 hectares in Panvel, Pen and Uran.

When contacted, a senior Commerce Ministry official said: “There should be no compulsory acquisition of land as far as the Central government and the SEZ Board of Approvals are concerned. If we get any report that the land for any SEZ project has been compulsorily acquired or if there is an objection by even one landowner, that SEZ won't be given approval nor will it be notified.”

(With inputs from Swatee Kher)