KOPPAL: Even after 15 years of acquiring land, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) is yet to paythe compensation to farmer Andanagouda Patil of Binnal village in Kukanoor taluk
of Koppal district.It was in 2007 that KIADB acquired over 1,000 acres of land for steel industries in and around Basapura village on the outskirts of Koppal.
The board provided a compensation of Rs 3 lakh per acre to the affected farmers, but missed out Andanagouda, who had purchased an acre of land on Survey Number 132 in Basapura village before the land acquisition. Instead of giving the compensation to Andanagouda, KIADB provided it to the land’s previous owner. When Andanagouda brought it to the notice of KIADBand revenue department officials, KIADB recovered Rs 3.66 lakh including interest from the previous owner.
But, till now, no compensation has been paid to Andanagouda, though he has made several rounds to the KIADB officein Dharwad.“I wrote to Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani, seeking compensation, but that also went in vain,” he told The New Indian Express.
A dejected Andanagouda on June 13 this year shot off letters to the state government, threatening to commit suicide along with his family in front of the chief minster’s office in Bengaluru if the compensation along with interest for the past 15 years is not paid to to him within a month.
While KIADB officials were unavailable for reaction, Assistant Commissioner Basavaneppa Kaalshetty told The New Indian Express on Monday that the issue will be looked into and compensation will be ensured to Andanagouda as soon as possible.