BENGALURU: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) extended its support to the ongoing protest by farmers against the proposed acquisition of 9,640 acres of land for the Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT) Project in Bidadi and demanded that the acquisition process be cancelled.
The farmers, on protest for the 568th day, are demanding an end to the land acquisition process and have also alleged harassment, abuse, oppression and filing false criminal cases and creating fake documents to snatch land acquisition compensation, the morcha said.
The Byramangala-Kanchagaranahalli Grama Panchayat Bhuhitharakshana Samiti with active support from the Samyuktha Horata Karnataka, is leading the struggle. “The acquisition is initiated under the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities (KUDA Act, while the 9,640 acres targeted for acquisition is predominantly rural agricultural land.
It spans 9 revenue villages and 16 non-revenue villages outside the municipal boundary,” it said. A committee headed by retired Supreme Court Justice V Gopalagowda, after visiting the protest site, had stated in its report that the acquisition process under the KUDA Act was null and void and also violated the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act 2013, the morcha added.
It said the LARR Act 2013 mandates evaluating environmental and ecological impacts through the statutory Social Impact Assessment process.
SKM accused the state government of shelving the LARR Act 2013, which the UPA-2 government led by the Congress had enacted. “The Modi regime brought the Land Acquisition Ordinance in 2014 to nullify the LARR Act but backtracked. Now, Congress is abandoning LARR Act 2013 to ditch the interests of farmers and serve corporate profiteering, which is shameful,” the morcha’s statement said.
