Fertile Land Acquired for Bellary Airport

July 2, 2009

Shivakumar G Malagi

Farmers who have been protesting the acquisition of their land in Sangankal, Siriwar and Chaganur villages for a greenfield airport in Bellary, claim the government has described their fertile land as dry in the gazette notification, in a deliberate move to mislead public opinionMinister for tourism and infrastructure development, Janardhan Reddy who is firm on the new airport for Bellary coming up on the site chosen near Chaganur and Siriwar on the outskirts of the city, despite the protests, recently told reporters that a gazette notification had been issued to acquire 1,250 acres in Chaganur and Siriwar villagesFarmers who have studied the gazette notification, claim it has falsely classified their fertile agriculture land as dry (kushki)They point out that the seven acres belonging to one Nemakallappa, which bears the survey No 290 A/1, has been notified as dry although the Land Record of Rights says water is being supplied to them from the high level canal of the Tungabhadra damFarmers also dispute the claim made by Mr Janardhan Reddy on the floor of the Legislative Council that the land identified for the airport did not have an irrigation canal, natural drainage or a lake. They point out that revenue department records show that agriculture land here gets water from the high level canal of the Tungabhadra dam and is served by a natural drain, Chagalamma Halla, which feeds around 500 acresLeader of the Chaganur farmers Mallikarjun Reddy says if the 1250 acres notified by the government are acquired, irrigation canal water supply, currently routed through them, will be cut off for some 4,000 acres, turning them barren“The government did not have the courtesy to invite us for talks even when we went on a padayatra to Bengaluru. It has now issued a gazette notification for land acquisition. It is being dishonest with usWe have decided not to give up our land at any cost and to continue with our agitation,” he said.
----------------“The government did not have the courtesy to invite us for talks even when we went on a padayatra to Bengaluru. It has now issued a gazette notification for land acquisitionIt is being dishonest with us.” — Chaganur farmer leader-advocate Mallikarjun Reddy