The Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), which is executing the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project, has denied it has acquired excess land from farmers and ruled out the possibility of returning any land to farmers.
Reacting to statements made by various farmer organisations that the company had acquired excess land for the project, a company spokesperson said the company had been waiting for the transfer of land from the state government to implement the expressway project.
“In April 2006 the Supreme Court had ruled that we have not acquired any excess land over and above what was mentioned in the original framework agreement (FWA). Since then, the state government has transferred only 7.5 acres to us. We want to know from the farmer organisations where have we taken excess land,” a company spokesperson said.
Of the 20,193 acres of land sanctioned to the company in the FWA, the state government through the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has not transferred the 7,300 acres including 2,300 acres of private land.
“The farmers are unnecessarily protesting against the BMIC project. Let them show us relevant survey numbers that are excess according to them. There is no logic in their allegations,” the company official said.
The state government, in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, had stated that about 475 acres were given to the company more than the required land near Bangalore to build the peripheral road. However, it is yet to be decided by the Supreme Court whether the land is excess or not, the state government sources said.
“The issue is not about the delay in transferring land to the company, but it is about how much land is to be given and where. Also, the issue of revised compensation needs to be decided by the company. Once the company agrees to pay the revised compensation of Rs 40 lakh and Rs 41 lakh per acre approved by the state cabinet, the transfer of the remaining land to the company will start,” sources said.
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The company is not ready to pay more than Rs 9 lakh per acre to Rs 12 lakh per acre at Bidadi. Its main contention is that the project had been delayed because of state government decisions. The project will move forward only if the company agrees to pay the revised compensation, the sources added.
For three days, from June 17 to June 19, various farmer organisations carried out protest marches against NICE stating that it had acquired excess land from farmers.
The campaigners have collectively demanded that the company return ‘excess’ land acquired by NICE to the original owners within seven days from June 19. They have threatened to launch a hunger strike if the company does not return the land. They are also planning to rope in Medha Patkar, the social activist, to join their protest against the company.
Last week, in a major relief for NICE, the Karnataka high court dismissed pleas challenging the acquisition of land for the BMIC project.
Apart from building the expressway between Bangalore and Mysore, the project also envisages creation of five satellite townships by NICE. The HC bench dismissed pleas challenging acquisition of land for the expressway, peripheral ring road, link road and satellite township under the first phase of the project. It also disposed off cases concerning the payment of compensation and allotment of alternative sites by asking them to approach the respective authorities.