BENGALURU: A delegation of farmers from Byramangala and Kanchugaranahalli gram panchayats on Tuesday submitted a petition to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, urging him to halt the land acquisition for the proposed Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT) - Bidadi Township project and instead utilise what they claimed unused government land earmarked for the Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project.
The petition, submitted on behalf of farmers by Abraham TJ, president, Anti-Corruption and Environmental Forum, alleges that thousands of acres of government land acquired for the BMIC project remains unutilised and should be reclaimed before any fertile agricultural land is acquired for the proposed township.
According to the petition, of the 7,133 acres of government land allotted for the BMIC project, only 376 acres had been utilised, leaving around 6,757 acres unused.
The petition claims that the 1998 high court order that formed the basis for the BMIC project was obtained through fraud, suppression of material facts and collusion.
The farmers also opposed the move to acquire more than 7,400 acres for the GBIT project, stating that the land supports agriculture, dairy farming and sericulture and provides livelihoods to hundreds of families.
The farmers claimed that they have been protesting against land acquisition for over 500 days.They said the township project would affect over five lakh fruit-bearing trees, besides causing long-term environmental and ecological impacts.
They urged the governor to direct the state government to verify land records, retrieve unutilised government land under the BMIC project and consider using it for the proposed township instead of acquiring fertile farmland.
The petition sought policy decisions to safeguard public land, protect farmers from displacement and ensure transparency in land acquisition.
