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An alleged stalemate between the UP government and farmers in Jewar tehsil of Gautam Buddha Nagar district could lead to a loss of face with the proposed Jewar Airport being moved to another state, sources said. In order to retain the project, the administration seems to be working overtime to ensure that all alternatives are provided to farmers and the process of acquisition is expedited.
“Officials from the centre had called the UP government asking them about the status of the land acquisition for the project. Efforts to get the consensus of farmers are still underway but a final agreement has not yet been reached. The neighbouring state of Haryana has 2,500 acres of land which is already under them and the project might shift there if the UP government does not acquire 3,000 acres of land in the first phase of the project,” a source said.
The development comes 15 days after UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met farmers and assured them that their interests will be taken care of. With Lok Sabha elections next year, it seems that the state government wants to iron out all procedural roadblocks for one of its showcase projects, sources said.
Meanwhile, Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh maintained that meetings with farmers were being held to discuss land acquisition. “The CM has given clear directions saying that we should fix a compensation for farmers which are in their favour. Keeping in mind the re-location that farmers will have to deal with, arrangements need to be made accordingly,” said Singh.
Senior government officials, on the other hand, maintained that the farmers have been offered two options for compensation, and discussions on the matter was taking place in six villages. “Without consent, land will not be taken from farmers. The CM has said that it is only after the farmers’ consent on compensation that land will be acquired. While the law stipulates the compensation at Rs 1,800 per square metre, we have come up with two options for farmers,” said Prabhat Kumar, chairman of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA).
Under the first option, the government proposed the compensation amount at Rs 2,300 per square metre along with certain benefits, including housing, compensation for the cost of construction (tubewells, houses) on the plot, employment for one member of each family or a compensation of Rs 5 lakh, cost of cattle among others.
The second proposal, on the other hand, provides a compensation of Rs 2,500 per square metre without additional benefits. Farmers, however, maintained that they were still waiting for the news to reach them. “A meeting was held in one of the villages, Rohi, and others were scheduled to take place today. They have been postponed due to Vajpayee’s demise. We will look at the revised proposal and hold a meeting of all farmers affected. We want the Jewar Airport to be constructed here, too, but farmers’ needs should be addressed,” said Yogesh Sharma, one of the farmers from Dayanatpur village.
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