Two sides of an Expressway

In 2009,the Uttar Pradesh government notified farmers in villages along the Expressway that they would have to give up their land for the road and for the ‘development’ of land along the road. For builders,this meant big game,so they put up billboards along the planned route,pitched tents to woo potential investors and offered them tantalising deals—some of the bigger builders offered fancy two-bedroom flats for Rs 35-45 lakh,“40 per cent lesser than Delhi rates”,they said.

A new gold rush had begun. But elsewhere,in village chaupals,people wondered if they could even get on to this highway of change.

Greater Noida is Delhi’s newest suburb,the four-lane Greater Noida Expressway bringing the fringes closer to the capital. This is where that middle class dream of owning a house has the best chance of turning real. This is also where builders like Ansal,Supertech,Logix,Paras,ATS and Green Bay and many others pitch that dream—from billboards and from ads that skirt saplings along the road. But now,that property boom is heading in another direction—it takes off from where the Greater Noida Expressway ends and where the Yamuna Expressway begins.

“When you get off the Greater Noida flyover,turn left for Jaypee Sports City. That’s where it all begins,” says Sandeep Tiberwal,an advisor with Brand Realty,an organised network of real estate advisors and consultants,who has an office in Noida’s Sector 18 for the Yamuna Expressway projects.

Jaypee Sports City is easy to spot,with the cranes in top gear,working on the Formula 1 racetrack that has to be ready in time for a June 2011 inspection by the Federation Internationale de I’Automobile (FIA). Every few metres,large signages point towards Jaypee’s many projects in the area.

In 2003,Jaypee was given the contract to build the Yamuna Expressway on a Build Operate and Transfer model. With a budget of Rs 9,500 crore,the Expressway would require nearly 43,000 acres of land,and the Uttar Pradesh government notified 1,191 villages for the project,extending from Greater Noida in Gautam Budh Nagar district,through Tappal in Aligarh,Mathura and onwards till Agra. Jaypee has set an October 2011 date for opening the first 30 km of the Expressway. The entire stretch will be opened to traffic by December this year,nearly two years ahead of its deadline. Jaypee was also given the rights to develop five townships,spread over 400 million square feet,in five regions—Noida and Jaganpur in NCR,Mirzapur in Gautam Budh Nagar,Tappal in Aligarh,and Agra. For these townships,the government notified an additional 334 villages in six districts—Gautam Budh Nagar,Bulandshahr,Aligarh,Mathura,Agra and Hathras.

Land this vast can only spell opportunity,big enough for builders big and small. Inside an overheated white and blue makeshift tent,next to a large white billboard that sports a Superman-like red ‘S’ in the centre of a triangle,is R K Arora,Chief Managing Director,Supertech Builders.

The centerpieces of Supertech’s ambitious project are an artificial beach and a man-made lake,with dwelling units picturesquely scattered around these water bodies. He hands out computer-generated brochures for the ‘Supertech Holiday Village’,“a 100-acre grand civilisation on the Yamuna Expressway”. “We are going for theme-based projects to draw buyers. Why else would people want to move 40 km from Delhi? We have to give them something they can’t find in Delhi. In fact,this is the first project in India to have an artificial beach and we have roped in designers from Dubai to help us design it,” says Arora.

To look at this new city on paper is a revelation. Its green boulevards,open spaces,swimming pools,golf courses,inky-black roads,university campuses,its night safari—you almost want to believe Arora when he says “grand civilisation on the Yamuna”.

Bhatta is a village without men. The women sit in front of their homes,muttering about the men who went missing or were allegedly killed. The few men around claim they aren’t from this village. “Bahar se hain,” says a man who had turned up for the funeral of 95-year-old Murty Devi. “She died of old age,nothing to do with all this land trouble,” he says. And when the women talk,it’s in conspiratorial whispers. “Did you hear of the men who were pushed into the bitoda (a hut-like structure made of cowdung cakes) and set on fire? Sab ko nikaal nikaal ke maara.”

It’s hard to confirm any of this in Bhatta,a Jat village near the Expressway where a farmers’ protest over the amount of compensation for their land turned violent on May 7,killing two policemen and two villagers. The district administration arrested 32 villagers after an extensive raid in Bhatta and its twin village,Parsaul,in Gautam Budh Nagar district. With that,Bhatta-Parsaul became a rallying point for politicians and activists.

The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration had acquired 179 hectares in Bhatta and 142 hectares in neighbouring Parsaul and transferred this land to the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA). YEIDA officials say that while all farmers have been compensated,some have accepted the compensation amount while those protesting haven’t.

Officials say that while a few farmers got compensation at the rate of Rs 815 per sq m,others were given the revised rate of Rs 880 per sq m. “Now the farmers are demanding Rs 3,000 per sq m. The government had prepared a new rate of Rs 1,000 per sq m,but the proposal was kept on hold after the farmers’ agitation,” said a YEIDA official.

In Parsaul village,a retired school teacher whose two sons were allegedly beaten up by the police and are in hospital with fractures,agrees to talk but without giving away his name. “Why were my sons beaten up? They were school teachers,government employees. We had even accepted the compensation. I gave up 20 bighas of land and got Rs 1.25 crore. I used that money to buy 25 bighas in Anoop Shahr,Bulandshahr district. I am yet to get the remaining Rs 25 lakh,” he says.

Farmers,he says,don’t have a choice. When the government asks them to give up their land,it’s wise to take the money and move on. “Isse bekar zindagi kisi ki nahin,” he says. “This is the land that grows basmati,chole,matar,wheat and chana and look how they treat us,” he says,sitting hunched on his charpoy.

A few men sit around at the village chabutra,discussing Rahul Gandhi’s visit and arrest the previous evening. “Wait for the 2012 elections. Mayawati will know what it is to take on Jats,” says Ranvinder Singh Malik,a farmer whose family owns 350 bighas. While the others in his family have taken their share of compensation,Malik is waiting for the land issue to be resolved.

But some things can’t wait—like Pinki’s wedding in Parsaul. “We have a wedding to attend. No time to talk about land,” says a young woman cheerfully as she joins her husband on his bike on their way to Pinki’s house.

In Mirzapur,a village of Rajputs that’s closer to the Expressway and where Jaypee is developing a parcel of land,Chanderpal Singh,a former pradhan,doesn’t recognise the land he gave up two years ago. “Yahin kahin tha (it was somewhere here). We don’t recognise our own land,” he says,sitting on the edge of the car seat,looking anxiously out of the window.

Till about two years ago,he grew wheat here. Now his part of the field is barren,the soil dug up. Two years ago,Singh gave up his seven bighas and picked up a compensation of Rs 28 lakh for four bighas. He is yet to get the rest of the money.

“They took away our land saying there would be vikas (development). But what they did instead was to take away our land and give it to Jaypee. Now Japyee grows wheat and maize here. They haven’t started growing on my field yet,but they will soon. Why did the government have to take away our land and give it away for farming? Weren’t we doing that already,” asks Chanderpal. “Now I am left with no land and my sons will have nothing to do.”

Chanderpal’s younger son Tinku,in a purple shirt and in the habit of sweeping his hair on to his forehead,says he has a car and a motorbike and stopped studying after class 12. He is 24 and is clearly enjoying the new money in the family. He fiddles with his new slide cellphone and asks his friend if he wants a ride on his bike. Tinku is uncomfortable talking about his “plans for the future”,brushing it off quickly with “let us see. I may sit for some exams—police etc,” he says. He opens his wallet,eagerly showing off his Delhi Metro card. “Main Dilli aata jata rehta hoon. When someone in our village wants to buy a car,I take them along in my car.”

This new money is visible everywhere in Mirzapur—multi-storeyed houses that open straight into the mud lanes,youngsters zipping along on their motorbikes,families trundling along in their new cars with flashy messages—“Thakur saheb”,read one—emblazoned on their rear windscreens.

“What do these children know? All they know is their fathers’ pockets are stuffed with currency notes. But what will they do after it’s gone? They are not qualified for jobs and now they have no land. There is no access road to the highway either. We will be completely cut off,” says Chanderpal.

Tariq Khan is a confident young man in Achhega Bugurg,a Muslim village that abuts the Expressway. His father and uncle own 35 bighas and they got a compensation of about Rs 2.35 crore. “Am I happy about the Expressway? Of course,I am. With development comes money and with money,more development. Do you think Tevatia (Manvir Singh Tevatia,the farmer leader who led the violent agitation in Bhatta-Parsaul) and the other farmers did the right thing? They even shot at the DM. How can you expect the same compensation that another village got? There are many factors that determine compensation. Can I claim the same salary as you if I am not educated enough,” asks the young man studying in his first year of BBA at a college in Tugalpur,Greater Noida. The family had two Boleros and with the compensation money,bought a Scorpio and is building a two-storeyed mansion,with expansive courtyards and an open balcony on the first floor. “We designed it all by ourselves—total,” he says. “Remember,where you are sitting is part of the National Capital Region. Isn’t that good for us?”

With inputs from Pragya Kaushika

Row over relief

* In 2008,farmers began agitating in Ghori Bachera,a village near Noida,demanding higher compensation. After some violence,the government agreed to pay the farmers Rs 880 per sq metre,up from Rs 575 per sq metre that was offered to them earlier.

* In villages around Tappal,Aligarh,the compensation stood at Rs 336 per square metre. Farmers from five villages in the area—Kansera,Zikarpur,Kripalpur,Jahangarh and Tappal—began an agitation in July 2010. By September 2010,following violent protests,the government raised the compensation to Rs 575 per square metre. The farmers continued their agitation and this led the UP government to announce a new land acquisition policy that offered several sops to the land owners,including an annuity at the rate of Rs 20,000 per acre for 33 years.

* In Bhatta-Parsaul,while few farmers were given compensation at the rate of Rs 815 per sq m,others were given at a revised rate of Rs 880 per sq m. “The farmers are demanding Rs 3,000 per sq m. The government had prepared a new rate of Rs 1,000 per sq m,but the proposal was kept on hold after the farmers’ agitation,” says an IDA official.