The news of approval granted by the Union government for the special economic zone (SEZ) at Nandagudi near Bangalore is yet to reach the taluk administration and farmers of this small village.

A visit to Nandagudi in Hoskote taluk on Friday revealed that the farmers were in a state of confusion and fear as they do not have any information about whose land would be required for the project.

Interestingly, even the tahsildar has no information about the specific land required for the project and the approval given by the Centre.

The farmers had some hope of saving their land when Congress leaders toured the villages and assured the farmers that the party would not allow utilisation of agricultural land for the SEZ. But, they are now in a state of shock with the Congress-led UPA government approving the project proposed by the State government, against which the State Congress unit had vehemently opposed.

Though the Communist Party has come forward to support the cause of the farmers in Nandagudi, they have little hope with such a “symbolic” support as they are aware of the developments in Nandigrama in West Bengal, where the Communist government itself is going ahead with the formation of SEZ acquiring agricultural land.

No information
Locals point out that the government had surveyed the 36 villages around Nandagudi about two years ago to develop a township but they do not have any information on number of villages falling under the present project.
Details

Except the details given by the Congress leaders in their speeches and rumours about land acquisition, the locals have not been provided with official information by the taluk administration.

In the absence of clear picture about the proposed project, the farmers are still not sure about their future course of action.

Uttanalappa of Ramagonvidapura village said: “We will not part with the land we have been cultivating for generations. Recent technologies in the agriculture sector have made farming easier and cultivation is possible with less water with drip irrigation. We thought the Congress’ fact-finding committee would send a report to the Central government. Anyway, some of us have spoken to the MLA this morning and he has assured us that he will be with the farmers.”

Ready to sell
On the other hand, Mr S P Venkatesh of Siddanahalli said many farmers are ready to sell their land provided the developer paid the market value.

“How can we cultivate land when the water table has dipped beyond 1,000 feet? We are not sure whether SEZ developer would provide jobs to us as they look for educational and technical qualifications,” added Venkatesh. A few others in Nandagudi Ravi, Lakshminarayanappa and Chandrappa of Dalit Sangharsh Samiti and Venkateshappa of Muddnahalli are also ready to sell their land for market price.