BENGALURU: Clarifying to protesting farmers in and around Devanahalli over land acquisition, Large and Medium Industries Minister MB Patil on Tuesday announced that 495 acres of land belonging to three villages in Channarayapatna hobli in Devanahalli have been excluded from acquisition for the proposed hi-tech Defence and Aerospace Park.
It was also decided not to acquire any land from the hobli in future for industrial purposes, and appealed to the protesting farmers to call off their agitation. The decision was taken during a meeting with Devanahalli MLA and Bengaluru Rural district minister KH Muniyappa, at Patil’s office in Vidhana Soudha.
The ministers explained that the preliminary notification for acquiring 1,772.2 acres of land in 13 villages in Channarayapatna hobli was issued on August 27, 2021, followed by a government order on February 15, 2022. “However, it was observed that farmers from this region had already lost land twice earlier for industrial projects. Taking this into account, along with the fact that the land included irrigated farmland and human habitation, the government decided to exclude 231.23 acres in Channarayapatna, 185.18 acres in Mattibarlu, and 78.21 acres in Shrotriya Tellohalli from the acquisition process,” Patil explained.
He added that compensation for the acquired land will be determined by the District Commissioner and land losers will have the option of receiving 10,771sqft of developed land per acre, which they can use for commercial purposes, the minister clarified. The protesters were primarily concerned about land acquisition in Channarayapatna, Mattibarlu and Shrotriya Tellohalli. A meeting was also held with CM Siddaramaiah earlier. “The government has honoured the demands of farmers. The protest should now end. We must strike a balance between industrial growth and agricultural welfare,” Patil stated.