HC order comes as a relief to farmers

The Karnataka High Court’s interim order has come as a relief to small and marginal farmers who have been fighting to protect their fertile land on the either side of the Pune-Bangalore National Highway (Express Highway) 4.
About 20 families of farmers owning small and marginal land on survey Nos. 628, 629 and 630 on either side of the highway, just 2 km from the Central Bus Stand, have been fighting against the move by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) to allegedly hand it over to Parivartan Alpasankhyatara Krushi Sahakara Sangha (PAKSS), a private society controlled by Belgaum South MLA Abhay Kumar Patil of the BJP.
The KIADB had initiated steps to acquire the land against the will of the farmers who were depending on it for livelihood. The PAKSS wanted to set up a cold storage plant there. The National Highway Division, Belgaum, in its notification issued on March 27, 2000, determined the “building lines” and “control lines” and declared that 75 metres on either side of the existing highway as “Green Belt Zone” and banned construction activities and development work in this area.
When the farmers challenged the move to acquire their land in the High Court, the KIADB temporarily stalled the process only on the direction of Regional Commissioner Amita Prasad. But the police started harassing and threatening the farmers.
The High Court recently passed an interim order and asked the Government to respond “as to why the State should not take the responsibility of providing cold storage facilities to farmers as sought to be done by PAKSS for whose benefit the land is proposed to be acquired by the board.”

Source The Hindu

Who will hear the farmers? Police accused of harassment

The Belgaum Shahar Shetkari Sanghatana, which has taken up the cause of farmers struggling to save their lands from being acquired by Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board, has alleged that police officials and their staff attached to the Malmaruti Police Station are harassing farmers.
A procession was taken to the DC’s office, against the KIADB had proposal to acquire fertile and irrigated agriculture land off Pune-Bangalore National Highway 4 (Express Highway) falling under Survey Nos 628, 629 and 630 only to allot to a private society controlled by BJP MLA (from Belgaum South) Abhay Kumar Patil. This was being done though the land had been earmarked as Green Belt area.
The farmers are small and marginal landholders. They are raising crops such as paddy, wheat and jowar for their living. However, the KIADB had proposed to acquire their land in an illegal manner and without observing procedural norms only to hand it over to Alpasankyatar Krushi Sahakar Sangh controlled by Mr. Patil.
A complaint was also made to the Governor and the High Court following which the Regional Commissioner of Belgaum Revenue division directed the KIADB against pursuing with the acquisition. Yet, the police were harassing and even arresting innocent farmers and creating panic among their families, it claimed.
The police were behaving in a threatening manner instead of providing protection to these poor families, it alleged. Though the matter was brought to the notice of the Superintendent of Police Sonia Narang, there was no let-up in the harassment by police. It was not clear whether the police stood for the politically influential and the rich or the poor and the weak.

This blog has has been following up this story, see earlier stories
http://belgaumblog.com/2008/09/farmers-concerned-over-kiadb/
http://belgaumblog.com/2008/07/farmers-accuse-mla-of-trying-to-grab-land/
http://belgaumblog.com/2007/10/farmers-say-don%e2%80%99t-take-our-land/
Source:The Hindu

Farmers Concerned over KIADB

The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has plans to acquire 501 acres of farmland at Ghugeranatti and Bambarga in Bambarga gram panchayat limits and Godihal in Vantamuri gram panchayat limits in Belgaum taluk. The land proposed for acquisition is 10 km away from Belgaum and adjacent to Pune-Bangalore Express Highway (NH 4) from Bennalli to Bhutaramantti.

The land acquisition wing of KIADB headed by a special land acquisition officer in Dharwad issued notice on September 6, 2006, to acquire 373 acres and 19 guntas at Bambarga and 127 acres and 24 guntas at Ghugarenatti, but could not proceed further following protests by farmers. They staged a “rasta roko” on November 9, 2006.

But the KIADB issued notices on March 8, 2008, to a few farmers of these villages. This had had become a cause for concern among the farmers of Ghugarenatti. If land was acquired, the entire village would have to be relocated. KIADB had left out the land along the highway owned by some “influential” persons. Village goutaan (common) land and barren hillocks under social forestry had also been left out. Sources in KIADB said the board had asked the tahsildar of Belgaum to prepare records to enable it to issue a final notification for land acquisition. People of the villages where KIADB has plans to acquire land are hoping that the Government would reconsider its move.
Now here we go again, How do we have industrial development without disturbing Agriculture. This is a Question being asked in all the states and all on fronts. Take it in Singur or in Ratnagiri or Jamshedpur. The farmers are now unwilling to give their land for industrial development.
I would rather suggest the Supreme court (it will have to intervene one day for sure) in this matter and make a national policy for land acquisition. Until then, we will have unsatisfied farmers and unsatisfied Industrialists.

Original Story in The Hindu