BENGALURU: Retired Supreme Court judge Justice V Gopala Gowda’s jury report on the Bidadi Township states that the state government’s decision to form the Greater Bengaluru Development Authority (GBDA) and plan to execute the township through this is ‘unconstitutional’.
As per the report, GBDA, which was entrusted with an integrated township, cannot be considered an Authority constituted under Section 3 of the Karnataka Urban Development Authority (KUDA) Act. The report stressed that for land acquisition, the area should be under “urban area” within the meaning of Section 2(s) of the KUDA Act, and lands being proposed for acquisition of the project are under Gram Panchayat limits.
The report also highlights that land identified for acquisition is fertile irrigated land. There is animal husbandry and milk production, sericulture, horticulture and vegetable cultivation on this land. All these are part of the social and environmental impact, and this stands ignored.
The report, released by social activist SR Hiremath, Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha general secretary Yashvantha T, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha representative Badagalpura Nagendra, social activist Noor Sridhar and farmers from Bidadi in Bengaluru on Friday, states that the GBDA is “unlawful” and has no legal foundation or backing.
Lashing out at the government for pushing the Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT) project on over 7,000 acres of land spread across 15 villages in Byramangala Gram Panchayat limits, activists and farmers have demanded that the project be dropped with immediate effect. “The move by the government is in direct violation of various Supreme Court and High Court judgments,” said Hiremath.
He added that under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR Act), the government is bound to make a Social Impact Audit and Environmental Assessment Study Report, but in this case it has been ignored, and this is one of the key elements of the report.
Joining Hiremath, Yashvantha T stated that farmers with small land holdings will be impacted deeply with the “unconstitutional” acquisition, as the government will destroy the village and agrarian system. “We have issued a warning that in case the project is not dropped, the protest from Byramangala will be shifted to Vidhana Soudha,” he said.
Farmers who had come from Bidadi to Bengaluru to address the press and release the jury report stated that they had planned to hold a rally from Byramangala to Bengaluru from August 9 to 11, and wanted the issue to be raised in the upcoming assembly session. The farmers also appealed to political parties to join them in their struggle.