High-tension line: Farmers to get compensation at Rs 5.25L per acre

The Power Grid Corporation of India has agreed to pay a compensation of Rs 5.25 lakh peracre of land acquired by it for its high tension power line from Kalyapura to Kachalli in Shidlaghatta taluk.

The decision was arrived at a meeting held on Thursday and presided over by the additional deputy commissioner K N Anuradha. Farmers' leaders from Shidlaghata taluk and deputy managers of the Power Grid Corporation Kishore and U P Singh were present in the meeting which lasted four hours.

In the beginning, the farmers demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh per acre. However, the officials of PGCIL flatly refused. Finally, the additional deputy commissioner succeeded in arriving at a consensus by fixing the compensation at Rs 5.25 lakh per acre.

The PGCIL has been drawing a high-tension power line from Salem in Tamil Nadu to the sub-station in Narasapura near Tumakuru. Around 14 km of this line passes through 11 villages in Shidlaghatta taluk.

The line passes through Kalyapura, Sundrahalli, Chikkaballa, Devaganahalli, Hosapete, Yannanguru, Nagamangala, Chokkandahalli, Kakachokkandahalli, Bhaktarahalli and Kachelli. The work on drawing the power line for 10 km frm Sundrahalli to Bhaktarahalli has already been completed.

When the project began around three years ago, a compensation of Rs two lakh was fixed per acre of land acquired. Ninety per cent of the farmers had received the money also. However, they hadbeen staging a protest under the leadership of Raitha Sangha demanding more compensation. Two farmers attempted to consume poison during one such protest this June and the police had foiled the attempt.