Farmers in K’taka Block National Highways, Protest Against Land Acquisition Amendment

Farmers in Karnataka, under the banners of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) and Hasiru Sene, are protesting the amendment by the government of Karnataka to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013 on Monday.

On February 13, 2019, the state Assembly had passed this amendment to facilitate land acquisition for various development projects in the state, as was reported by the New Indian Express.

The amendment reads, “The state government may in the public interest, by notification in the official gazette, exempt any of the following projects from the application of the provisions of Chapter II and Chapter III of this Act, namely:

• Such projects vital to the national security or defence of India and every part thereof, including preparation for defence or defence production.
• Infrastructure projects including educational institutions, hospitals, government or local self-government offices electrification, irrigation projects and drinking water projects and Affordable housing and housing for the poor people.
• Industrial corridors set up by the state government and its undertaking and
• Infrastructure projects including projects under public-private partnership, where the ownership of the land continues to vest with the state government: Provided that the state government shall, before the issue of notification, ensure the extent of land for the proposed acquisition keeping in view the minimum land required for such a project.”

The amendment also reads: “All those projects require that land be made available soon, or there will be an escalation in costs and benefits of development will be stalled.”

The protesting farmers are arguing that as per this amendment, the deputy commissioner of the district is the authority who will decide the amount of compensation for the acquired land, which will make the commissioner very powerful.  

Also Read: State Governments Taken to Court for Land Acquisition Amendments

The farmers today blocked the highway at the Chikkaballapur cross, Hospet and Bagalkot, as they protested. Along with the amendment, the farmers from the Northern part of the state are protesting against the acute drinking water crisis in the region.

As NewsClick has reported earlier, the state of Karnataka is witnessing a fourth successive drought year and is facing severe water crisis. The Centre had issued a drought advisory to Karnataka along with Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu in mid-May, recommending that water be used for drinking only, and judiciously. The drought advisory is issued to states when the water level in reservoirs is 20% less than the average of live water storage figures of the past 10 years.

The state government has so far declared 3,122 regions to be highly affected by drinking water scarcity and this number is only increasing, as reported by News18. According to the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, of the 176 taluks, 138 have groundwater at a low level. The worst of these are Bagepalli, Chikkaballapura, Sidlaghatta, Bangarpet and Kolar.

Also Read: Drinking Water Crisis in Karnataka Persists, Forces Schools in Udupi to Stall Mid-Day Meal Scheme