JOIN USThousands of farmers whose land was acquired for the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project are still struggling to get the promised compensation in the form of alternative sites.
As a last resort, more than 10,000 farmers, who lost their land for construction of the peripheral and link road built by the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), have announced a massive protest at the Freedom Park here on June 25.
Nanjundesh, president of NICE Road Land Losers’ Forum, told a press conference here on Monday: “In 1997, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) acquired 41-km of land in and around Bangalore. In 1995, the State government signed an agreement with the villagers, as per which all land losers will be paid a compensation of Rs six lakh for every acre acquired. The land losers were also promised a 30x40 ft site for every half acre acquired and a 60x40 ft site for every acre. While the cash component was paid in 2004, the sites have not been allotted till date.”
Land was acquired in such areas as Bidadi, Sompura, Bannerghatta Road, Kanakapura Road, Kengeri, Manganahalli and Kodigehalli, according to the land losers.
Krishnamurthy R, who lost five acres of land at Thirumalapura, said that representations were made and memoranda submitted to the authorities concerned in the last 10 years but they took no action.
Attempt to loot ATM kiosk
A four-member gang attempted to loot money from an ATM kiosk in Koramangala early Monday morning.
The incident took place at 4.30 am at IDBI Bank ATM on 100 ft road in Koramangala, police said. The suspects came on two bikes and parked near the kiosk.
They thrashed the security guard Anand, tied his hands and legs and gagged his mouth before gaining entry into the kiosk, police said.
The power inside the kiosk went off as they hit the ATM machine twice. Soon they realised that a police patrol team was in the vicinity and fled the spot on their bikes.
The police, who grew suspicious, came near the kiosk and rescued the security guard. The suspects’ movements have been captured on CCTV camera.
Shanthakumar, ACP, Madiwala sub-division, said that it was only an attempt and the intruders were unable to loot money.