Bharatmala project land acquisition compensation row: Farmers call off rail roko as officials arrange meeting with CM Mann on May 24

Earlier, hundreds of activists of KMSC squatted on tracks at seven different locations in Punjab from 1 am to 4 pm due to which eight trains were cancelled, two had to be short-terminated, while another 12 had to be rescheduled. All were inter-city trains.

Rail roko protests were also held at Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Devidaspura, Jalandhar Cantonment railway station, Ferozepur, Moga and Fazilka railway stations.

The Bharatmala is a central government-funded mega roads and highways project aimed at creating a robust high-speed road network across the country.

The KMSC said that it also registered its protest against the alleged slapping of a woman by a policeman in Gurdaspur on Wednesday. A clash had broken out between farmers and police authorities in a Gurdaspur village over land acquisition for Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway. Farmers were allegedly manhandled and a woman farmer Sukhwinder Kaur was apparently slapped by a policeman. The policeman was told to report to police lines immediately.

Mankanwal Chahal, SDM Gurdaspur, while addressing the farmers said, “We have decided that the arbitration cases of all the farmers will be handled by the government on their own because at times farmers are not able to arrange proper documents or are not able to contest their case. Till the time the case is not settled and amount is not transferred into the farmers’ account, work on the ground will not be started”.

Satinder Pal Singh, SSP rural, Gurdaspur, also addressed the farmers.

KMSC president Sarwan Singh Pandher said, “On Wednesday, officials were harsh with farmers. Their language and behaviour was rude. They were trying to forcibly get things (land acquisition) done. But now, due to immense public pressure, they have changed their tone.”
KMSC spokesperson Gurbachan Singh Chabba said the government was acquiring the land but not paying adequate compensation as desired by farmers. Chabba too alleged that a woman farmer was slapped by a policeman.

“The highhanded attitude of the government and its police which applied force to uproot the farmers from their agriculture land is condemnable,” Chabba said.

The KMSC, in a statement, said during a meeting between farmers and state government officials at Devidaspura, it was assured that arbitration camps will be organised to sort out the issues of the farmers at the earliest.

Pandher said, “Farmers are upset over compensation at many places. They need to be given an amount which is four times the market price plus rehabilitation fund which almost works out to be six times of the market price of the land being acquired. In village Cheema Khudi of Gurdaspur district, a farmer was given Rs 1.18 crore per acre after arbitration, but now the farmers are alleging that they are being offered a small amount starting from Rs 35 lakh per acre. Our fight is for proper compensation of land. Such problems are in many parts of the state. Here farmers have issues of compensation related to Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway and also Amritsar to Una expressway. Now we have lifted the dharnas but let’s see what happens on May 24.”

Farmers-NHAI dispute in Bathinda resolved

The farmers’ dispute with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) regarding the Jodhpur Romana-Dabwali road in the district has been resolved, informed Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Showkat Ahmed Parray.

“The dispute which was going on since 2021 regarding inadequate compensation for land has been resolved as NHAI has taken possession of 100% of the land to be used for road construction and the work has also been started. The issue of farmers with NHAI was resolved unanimously,” said the deputy commissioner.

The preliminary work for construction of 27.2-km-long six-lane road has been started by NHAI, he added.

The deputy commissioner further said that after the road construction work is completed, the residents of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan will have an easy ride.

This road is a part of Amritsar-Bathinda-Jamnagar (Gujarat)-Bharatmala expressway. This road will also be connected with the Bathinda-Ludhiana expressway and after its construction, the journey from Bathinda to Ludhiana will get easier, he added.