Farmers from various districts across the state gathered here on Sunday and expressed their opposition to the government’s plan to acquire lands in the guise of development and to create a land bank.
At a meeting organised at State Agriculture Marketing Research Institute, ryot leaders vented their ire against the state government for allegedly scheming to acquire agriculture lands.
Leading the discussion, ryot leader Badgalpura Nagendra alleged that the government was planning to acquire 25,000 acres near Srirangapatna, T Narsipura and Nanjangud.
Warning that villages were fast turning into graveyards, he said the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) was also setting its eyes on fertile land between Hunsur and H D Kote.
He alleged that the government was planning to acquire two lakh acres in the state for industries.
While ryot leader K G Shanthaswamy from Gadag expressed his approval to industrial giant Posco moving out of his district, farmers’ representative from Koppal said trouble had just started flowing into their district.
He alleged that the industry was trying to purchase 4,000 acres of land directly from farmers. Also, rumours were rife that a survey was being undertaken discreetly by an industry.
Ravikumar of Davangere said the state government had set its eyes on 1,540 acres of land for an airport and 3,000 acres for setting-up a power grid. A total of 6,000 acres of land was being sought. But, intensive agitation had forced the government to go slow on its decision.
Bagalkot representative Ramesh said it was a tragedy that a person from his place had become an industries minister. The KIADB had planned to acquire around 3,500 acres of land, but as of now farmers have been successful in stopping it on its tracks.
Vidya Venkatesh on behalf of Dakshina Kannada said, initially plans were afoot to acquire 6,240 acres of land. But, following protests the requirement has been scaled down to 2,000 acres.
Two gas pipelines are being planned into Mangalore — one from Kochi and the other from Chennai. This would complicate matters, she added.
She urged farmers to stop protests only after ensuring that notification for acquiring lands was completely withdrawn.
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