After the Tata pullout, Singur might be in the process of getting peers in many places in Uttar Pradesh. Courtesy: land issues. Even as UP chief minister Mayawati on Sunday cancelled allotment of 189.25 hectare for a rail coach factory at Lalganj citing farmers? protests, the state, which has a host of projects up its sleeve, is running the risk of derailing them all if land acquisition issues are not resolved.
The fate of industrialisation in the state depends on huge number of farmers who are sitting on the periphery of the growth curve, connecting the remotest parts of western UP to the NCR. Plans are afoot to make Aligarh, Bulandshahr, Hathras and Gautam Buddha Nagar the new nerve centres of a network of projects. Be it the highly ambitious Ganga Expressway project or the Yamuna Expressway, the Eastern Railway Freight Corridor, or even another national highway from Delhi to Moradabad, huge tracts of land in these districts are required for all these projects.
But resentment is already simmering in Aligarh and Bulandshahr. Farmers of Jarauli Dhoom Singh, Nagla Harji, Kunjalpur, Chakhatal and Dinapur in Aligarh and Bulandshahr districts are a worried lot these days. The threat of their fertile fields being taken over for the construction of Ganga Expressway, which would connect Ballia on the eastern part to Greater Noida, looms large on them.
While some of them are openly rebellious about handing over their only means of livelihood and are prepared to go to any extent to save it, others are ready to come on the negotiating table and make the best bargain. Seated at the roadside tea stall at Jarauli Dhoom Singh, pradhanpati Bhoop Singh, who is officiating for his wife Omvati Devi, the pradhan of the village, airs the woes of the villagers. The village stands to lose almost 1/3 of its total area of 70 hectare to the expressway. ?We have heard that the government has decided to take the alignment of the expressway though our Atrauli tehsil after the earlier alignment through Narora was shot down for security reasons. We have also heard that the government has said that most of the land in this area is infertile and thus not much loss will be incurred to the farmers of the area, but you can see for yourself. We have as many as three to four crops every year. The fields are filled with wheat and peppermint at present and apart from these two crops, we have a very good crop of paddy, makka, potato, pulses, sugarcane, jowar, bajra and laha (mustard).?
Pawan Singh, who stands to lose almost 4 hectare, seconds him. ?Land is our only asset and also our livelihood. Once we lose it, we will become landless labourers. Word has it that we will be given compensation for our lands. But what good is money when all that we know is to till our lands. We have no experience of doing anything other than farming. What will we do with that money? We cannot go and buy land elsewhere as there is no land available anymore,? he laments.
Chandrapal Singh?s family of 14 that survives on the 25 bighas (less than 2 hectare) of land is seething with anger. ?However good the compensation is, we will have to wash our hands off our fertile fields for ever. What will we do after that?,? he retorts when told that the government has made up its mind to acquire their lands.
However, Digambar Singh, the pradhan of Nagla Harji, in Bulandshahr, is not averse to development, which is definite to seep in once the expressway gets done, but lays down some terms for villagers giving up their lands. ?We should either be given land in lieu of our lands or the compensation should be at par with what is being offered to the displaced in Greater Noida. The paltry compensation that we are being offered in the name of circle rate (Rs 10.5 lakh) per hectare is far below even the market rate of our lands and also the price that is being paid to Greater Noida farmers. While our lands are fetching a market price of Rs 20 lakh a hectare, Greater Noida farmers are getting almost Rs 40 lakh per hectare as compensation. Isn?t this a gross injustice to us?,? he asks.
However, farmers of Chakhatal are happy and confident, too, that they will not only get as good a compensation as Greater Noida but would also have development and industrialisation at their doorstep. With almost 160 hectare of the village slated to be acquired, the villagers are counting the lucky ones through whose fields the expressway would cross through. ?Development is sure to bring in lots of employment for the local youth and add to it the benefit of a good compensation. Our entire village is very happy,? says Jai Bhagwan, the pradhanpati of the village. When told that the compensation that would be offered would be based on the circle rate of the area and may not be akin to what is being offered to farmers in Greater Noida, the villagers suddenly turn cold. ?No way would we hand over for a lesser deal,? says Gulam Nabi, who would be losing almost 3 hectares. Even Dinapur, which is at the fag end of the tehsil and is said to be slightly less fertile than the other villages, has two to three good harvests every year. Veeresh Yadav, the former Samajwadi Party MLA of Ghangheri, in Atrauli, is upbeat about the project. ?There are no roadblocks here. We are all very happy and welcome the new alignment that cuts across our village. With as many as 85 villagers? land coming in the way of the expressway, people here are looking forward to a good package that will compensate the good harvests that we reap,? he stated.
Adds Balister Singh, who has to hand over almost 2 hectare for the project, ?The circle rate of our village is Rs 6 lakh per hectare. But we are not ready to give up our lands at this rate. We want a compensation that is similar to that of Greater Noida. After all, our lands would be lost forever. The compensation should be fit to sustain our needs for the rest of our lives too.?
