Bidadi project: Farmers’ delegation from two villages meets Chief Minister, appeals to him to issue final notification
A delegation of farmers from Byramangala and Kanchugarahalli, two villages where land is proposed to be acquired for the Bidadi Township Project, met Chief Minister
A delegation of farmers from Byramangala and Kanchugarahalli, two villages where land is proposed to be acquired for the Bidadi Township Project, met Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday (August 11), appealing to him to issue the final notification for the land acquisition and provide compensation at the earliest. This comes a day after JD(S) Youth Wing president Nikhil Kumaraswamy concluded a two-day padayatra from Byramangala to Bengaluru opposing the project. Byramangala has been the epicentre of protests against the township for over 500 days now. Mr. Shivakumar has also formed a committee led by Justice (retd.) Guhanathan Narendar, former Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court, to re-examine the project from various points of view and submit a report in 30 days.
Speaking to the media after meeting the farmers from the two villages in Bidadi, Mr. Shivakumar said he will discuss with officials and soon issue a final notification for lands needed for the project in Byramangala and Kanchugaranahalli. He said farmers in these villages are ready to take a compensation package with a cash component and some land. “There were hardly any farmers in the padayatra taken out by JD(S) and today’s meeting is evidence of that,” he said, adding no farmer will be forced to part with their lands for the project. So far, the Karnataka government has issued the final notification for seven villages including Mandalahalli, Vaderahalli, Kempaiahnapalya, K.G. Gollarahalli, Bannigiri, Aralalusandra, and Hosuru.
These villages cover about 5,450 acres. The government is yet to issue final notification for Byramangala and Kanchugaranahalli, which cover about 1,850 acres. ‘Save us from red zone’ A press statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on Tuesday (August 11) stated that the farmers who met the Chief Minister said they were trapped in a “red zone”, allowing them to neither sell their lands nor develop it; not even loans were available based on their properties. The lands were notified for the Bidadi Township in 2007-08, when H.D. Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister. It was declared a red zone, and the project was put on the backburner. Sunil, a farmer from Byramangala, reportedly said that farming in the area was not profitable due to sewage inflow into Vrishabhavathi river and they had been trapped in the red zone for 20 years now and were ready to give up their lands for the township project.
The BriefWire