Noida acquisition row: Land in trouble

Soon,however,came the news that all of his land had been acquired by the Uttar Pradesh government under the “urgency clause”,which enables the government to acquire any land for public purpose.

Though Singh initially rued the fact that his land had been taken away,he consoled himself with the knowledge that industries would soon come up in the area,promising employment for him and his children in the years to come. He hoped infrastructure such as roads,schools and hospitals will soon follow.

“Soon,we found out that our land had been given to private builders to construct residences,which none of us could afford. While we were being given Rs 850 per sqm,the land was sold to these builders at more than Rs 10,000 per sqm. Not only have we been condemned to no future employment,we were robbed of our due as well,” said Singh.

It was then that Singh,along with more than 1,400 other petitioners from nearly 70 villages across Noida and Greater Noida,went to the courts to get the land acquisition quashed.

In October 2011,the Allahabad High Court,among other direction such as asking the Greater Noida Authority to get new buildings approved by the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCPRB),directed the Authority to increase the compensation by 64 per cent,and increase developed plots due to these farmers from 5 to 10 per cent of the acquired land.

For Singh,this translated into a cheque of Rs 1.32 crore,handed over to him on November 28 by the Noida Authority.

A small-time farmer till now,Singh is unsure of what he is to make of his new ‘crorepati’ status.

“It is not just me,but several others as well across the villages of Bisrakh,Patwari and Itehda who have got more than a crore. And these are just the people I know. I want to buy some more land,so I can continue farming,but I have lost confidence. I have to get my two girls married off,and have an elderly father to take care of. There has got to be some sustainable income. I am unemployed and the money will not last long. Suddenly,we are having to pay for things we got for free from the fields earlier. I’m considering investing in a shop. But all of my family’s honour is connected to my land,and I don’t know what to do,” said Singh.

Voices of dissent

Singh,however,is one of the many farmers,who took the compensation offered by the Authority. Several others have chosen not to partake of it at all,and are still preparing their suits for an appeal in the Supreme Court against the High Court’s decision.

“We have not accepted any compensation. We had filed a “quash acquisition” plea with the High Court. The fact that they gave us extra compensation means nothing. They have taken away our livelihood,spoilt our fertile land with their construction material,not given us a fair price for the land,and reneged on their promises,” said Naresh Yadav,pradhan of Sorkha village.

Satbir Kumar of Patwari village said,“We have held over 30 meetings with various officials over the past year. Every single time,they assured us that our developed plots will be notified in the next two weeks,but that has happened for less than 10 per cent of the people so far. Further,the schools,colleges,and roads have remained empty promises.”

“Deola,Chak Shahberi and Asadullapur villages got their land back. So we are hopeful,” he said.

Authority says

Officials of both Noida and Greater Noida Authority said while handing out compensation has already been completed for those who chose to take it,the challenge is the developed plots due to farmers.

A senior official of the Noida Authority said,“The problem is that there is simply no land left to build these developed plots. Farmers want their developed plots near their abadi (residential) land,which in some cases is simply not possible. We have already given in to demands of regularising all their abadi land where it presently stands and we are considering giving additional compensation to those who we cannot give developed plots,to the tune of 10 per cent.”

The official,however,added that the issue is a complicated one as both farmers and buyers see themselves as the aggrieved party.