Anantapur Sept. 18: Land acquisition started by the government in Anantapur district to develop industrial estates is posing a danger to the livelihood of people and visiting Siberian birds. People of Veerapuram village in Chilamathur mandal oppose land acquisition for the establishment of special economic zones. They said that small farmers would lose their land holdings of one to two acres due to land acquisition, and it would also endanger the lives of Siberian birds visiting the village. They fear that pollution would increase in the village due to the establishment of industrial estates. Villagers feel that the visit of Siberian birds is auspicious for the village. They believe that they would get good crops and groundwater level would increase due to this. To develop Veerapuram as a tourist spot, villagers ba-nned the use of water in the village for irrigation purposes for the last eight years. To enable birds to build nests, saplings were raised and fish grown in the tank. Venkatapuram, Lakshmipuram, Dadireddypalli thanda, Hussainpuram and Bhupasamudram village under the limits of Veerapuram village panchayat limits. The government officials issued notices for acquisition of 1,048 acres in the panchayat limits. However, most farmers in Veerapuram demand stopping of land acquisition. The Veerapuram panchayat bio-diversity board chairman, Mr Narasimha Reddy, moved the High Court, seeking directions to the state government to take steps for protection of the environment and Siberian birds. He said that the government had issued notices for acquisition of 400 acres around Veerapuram. Farmers want to meet the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, to urge him to exempt Veerapuram from land acquisition.