Farmers refuse to accept sites in lieu of farmland

Farmers whose lands have been acquired by the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) at Chikkamalligawad village, off Dharwad, on Monday gheraoed the KHB officials and prevented them from taking up development works at the site.

Tension prevailed for a while as irate farmers pulled down the boards and threatened to turn violent. As police arrived at the scene, there were no untoward incidents.

The farmers were angry that the KHB executive engineer Vijaykumar Kakkayya in connivance with some agents had cheated them while acquiring their lands and paid less compensation. They also alleged that middlemen had siphoned off a major chunk of the compensation amount. The farmers also rejected the KHB’s offer of 30x40 ft sites for every acre acquired as additional compensation.

Instead, they demanded a compensation of Rs 25 lakh per acre. The farmers said they would launch an agitation from Tuesday and would not allow the KHB to take up work on the acquired land.

The KHB had come under fire from farmers for allegedly cheating them by acquiring land without following proper procedures. The KHB had acquired 216 acres in Chikkamalligawad, Kelgeri and Mummigatti on the outskirts of Dharwad. The farmers had alleged that the KHB had got middlemen to purchase land or secure power of attorney from farmers to deal with the land sale before notifying the acquisition. Not knowing that their lands were scheduled to be acquired by the KHB, the farmers had sold the landôgiven power of attorney to middlemen for a throwaway price of Rs 2.50 lakh per acre.

The middlemen later handed over the land to KHB for a much higher compensation of Rs 5.70 lakh per acre and allegedly siphoned off a major chunk of the compensation amount. The CID at the behest of Lok Ayukta probed the allegations and had implicated the KHB special land acquisition officer saying he had connived with middlemen in cheating the farmers.

MP Prahlad Joshi who had petitioned the Lok Ayukta had later promised the farmers that they would be given sites in lieu of additional compensation.