BENGALURU: Eventually agitating farmers of Channarayapatna hobli, Devanahalli in Bengaluru Rural district against acquisition of about 1,232 acres had their demand conceded by the State Government after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday announced the idea of land acquisition in 13 villages of Channarayapatna hobli for the proposed aerospace park has been dropped.
The farmers’ protests against land acquisition under the banner ‘Bhoo Swadhina Virodhi Horata Samiti’ went on for more than a 1,000 days before their demand got fulfilled.
Initially, it was planned to acquire 1,772.2 acres in 13 villages of Channarayapatna hobli. On June 24, Minister of Large and Medium Scale Industries M.B. Patil stated the State Government exempted 495 acres in Mattibarlu, Shrotriya and Tellohalli from going ahead with land acquisition and made it clear the land acquisition of 1,232 acres in 10 villages of Palya, Haraluru, Polanahalli, Gokare Bachchenahalli, Nalluru, Mallepura, Nallappanahalli, Cheemachanahalli, Muddenahalli and Hadayala will proceed unchanged.
After a meeting in Bengaluru with the agitating farmers, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated “Nowhere in the State had he come across such a lengthy protest staged against land acquisition” and said “The lands meant to be acquired are fertile and farmers over here are mainly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and taking to considerations, the demands of farmers, a decision to drop 13 villages of Channarayapatna hobli from land acquisition.
He expressed fears that the drop in land acquisition in Channarayapatna hobli would make industries shift to a new location. Despite the threat of industries moving to another location, he said, the State Government considered the interest of the farmers and stood by the farmers.
After the Chief Minister announced the decision to drop land acquisition, a farmers’ leader Karhalli Srinivas thanked the State Government for understanding the plight of farmers.
