The hectic activity by an official team, besides AIADMK and Congress delegations, caused some tension in the district. The police feared untoward incidents as the teams virtually passed each other in the seven revenue villages where the Tata Group proposed to acquire 12,000 acres for its project.

Concerned by the furore created over the recent signing of an MoU for the Tata project by activists in Tirunelveli and various political parties, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi put it on hold, dispatching an official team to gather public opinion instead.

“The Chief Minister is clear that there will be no forced land acquisition,” the official team led by Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy said. “It will be only through discussions. Farmers need not fear any consequences,” he added. A questionnaire was circulated at the public hearings, which would be held on Tuesday as well, containing queries regarding their views about the project and reasons for their objections, if any.

Farmers, who want the land price to be directly negotiated with them, expressed apprehensions that the actual value of land was much more than the recently revised guideline value. “If Tatas give us a good rate, we are willing,” some farmers reportedly told the team.

Meanwhile, a team led by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee leader M Krishnasamy, which did the rounds of some villages, was of the opinion that the party was not for anything that went against the people. “There were some people who wanted to give land. Several who did not want to do so. They expressed apprehensions about the project leading to a depleted water table and wanted ro know whether the villagers would be given jobs,” pointed out Congress legislator and team member Peter Alphonse. The team will submit a report to the Chief Minister.

At the public hearings held by a team comprising members of the AIADMK, led by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and legislator and senior leader K A Sengottaiyan, the “unanimous view” was that the Tata project should be opposed. “Our livelihood and land are more precious than monetary compensation. We are hopeful that Amma (AIADMK leader, J Jayalalithaa) would come to our rescue,” said farmers at the AIADMK-sponsored hearings.

Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa have been indulging in a war of words over the project. Jayalalithaa accused the Government of “depriving thousands of farmers of their livelihood” and causing “irreparable damage to ecology and environment”, by reviving the MoU with Tata Steel. Jayalalithaa, who signed the MoU with the company in 2002, subsequently rejected the project as she said it would harm the interest of more than 20,000 poor farmers besides damaging the environment.

Karunanidhi said the “real reason” for her to shelve the project was that “she had struck an unwritten deal with one particular goon who was illegally mining and exporting garnet from the area and making crores of rupees” and who “happened to be a shareholder in Jaya TV”.

Meanwhile, the CPI, a DMK ally, said it would strongly oppose any move to acquire vast stretches of land for the Tata project. CPI National Executive member R Nallakannu said a delegation led by him visited Sathankulam and Radhapuram villages in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts to gauge the public mood. They were in a state of “panic and fear” over possibly losing their livelihood, he said.