Farmers accuse MLA of trying to grab land

Source The HinduThere is no move to take possession of the land now: KIADB
‘Chief Minister should intervene and come to the rescue of farmers’
Members of 20 farmer families have alleged that a “fraud” was being committed upon them both by government officials and their elected representative who, according to them, were grabbing their fertile agricultural land by illegal means.
MLA from the Begaum South Assembly constituency Abhay Kumar Patil and officials of the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) are hand-in-glove in grabbing their only source of livelihood, they have alleged.
They said they had staged demonstrations in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office and sent memoranda to the Governor and the President. Yet, the BJP MLA had proved to be powerful, they said.
And, instead of protecting the law, life and property of weaker sections of society, the officials themselves were facilitating illegal proceedings for acquisition of their agricultural land, alleged Ranjit Patil, president, The Belgaum Shahar Shetkari Sanghatana (BSSS), even as he led a group of affected farmers to submit yet another memorandum to the President through the Deputy Commissioner here on Monday.
Talking to presspersons before submitting the memorandum, he said the KIADB had initiated the process of acquiring 16 acres of fertile agricultural land in Survey Nos. 628, 629 and 630 situated on either side of the Pune-Bangalore Express Highway (National Highway 4) 3 km from the city (on Dharwad Road).
The land, owned by 20 families, fell in the area that had been declared as “Green Belt” in the City Development Plan prepared by the Belgaum Urban Development Authority.
The farmers were raising crops such as paddy, wheat and jowar just sufficient to earn a livelihood. Recently, an owner of a piece of land in Survey No. 498:1:1 tried to convert the land for industrial purpose. But, the Government rejected his application on the ground that the area was under the “Green Belt”.
But, the KIADB was going ahead with the acquisition process only to help Mr. Abhay Kumar Patil, who wanted to grab the land through the Parivartan Alpa Sankyanka Krushi Seva Sangh, Mr. Ranjit Patil alleged.
The MLA had an eye on the land of the poor and weak farmers for long and set up the forum involving his family members and relatives with the objective of grabbing the land on the Express Highway, he claimed.
He said when the farmers started protesting, the police officials started harassing them under the influence of the MLA who was trying to take possession of the land. Though under normal circumstances the time taken for acquisition of agricultural land is three years, the KIADB took only 10 days to complete the procedure.
It even changed the names of the owners in the official records, despite the fact that the Supreme Court had, in its various judgments, held that no fertile agricultural land should be acquired for non-agricultural purposes, he said
In this case, the acquisition was being done without even giving proper compensation. Though the Government had given Rs. 60,000 per gunta when it acquired land for the Express Highway, the compensation amount being offered now was just Rs. 1.50 lakh per acre.
Mr. Ranjit Patil said it was ironical that the BJP came to power in the name of farmers. But, its MLA was trying to grab farmers’ land through illegal and coercive means. Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa should intervene and come to the rescue of the poor farmers, he added.
Mr. Ranjit Patil said the matter had been taken up in the Karnataka High Court.
Meanwhile, efforts to contact Mr. Abhay Kumar Patil were in vain.
However, official sources in the KIADB here told The Hindu that in view of the matter pending before the High Court, their Development Officer as well as the Regional Commissioner Amita Prasad directed the KIADB against pursing the matter. Therefore, there was no move to take possession of the land now

This blog has put a realted story to this on Oct.29,2007 its here. We All should stand with the farmers.We want development but not at the cost of the farmers land, if there are no farmers then what shallwe eat Industries.