Bidadi Township Controversy: Governor Suggests Using Unused NICE Land To Avoid Fresh Acquisition
· Free Press Journal
Bengaluru, Aug 18: In an interesting development, the Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot has just `peeped' into the controversy of Bidadi Township, which has become a political battleground between Congress and JD(S).
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Governor raises land concerns
The Governor, who has referred to some of the petitions he received from social activists, some farmer organisations from Bidadi region and quoting few points from a Karnataka High Court judgment, has made a suggestion to the government, if the project could be shifted to a nearby place.
In a letter to the Karnataka Chief Secretary Shalini Rajaneesh, the Governor has said that, based on the representations received by the farmers, it is learnt that the government in 1997 had allotted land to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) company to execute Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor. However, only 376 acres of the land has been used for constructing the ring road and remaining 6,757 acres of land is still unused.
The land is in the hands of unauthorised individuals or companies, who have no legal locus standi on the land. Besides, during last January and July, the Karnataka High Court has asked the government to take back the unused land from the hands of NICE. This land will be ideal for the government's proposed Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (Bidadi) project.
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At the moment, the government is planning to acquire 7,431 acres of land spanning across nine villages. Most of the people living in these villages are into agriculture, sericulture, dairy farming and these villages are green-covered areas. If the government takes back the land from NICE, the need for compulsory acquisition of the land from the farmers will be less. This will stop the farmers being displaced from their villages, the Governor stated.
``The issue raised by the petitioners are serious in nature and is worrying also. I am attaching the petitions along with the letter. After considering the petitions, please act as per law and send back an action taken report as soon as possible,'' the Governor added.
Political battle over township
However, the ground situation at Bidadi is far from the fight between farmers and the Congress government. The project was first initiated by the Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy, when he was the Chief Minister. The government also declared the proposed nine villages as red zone, so that no haphazard growth was possible. The contract for developing the township was given to DLF company.
However, when Yeddyurappa replaced Kumaraswamy as chief minister, the DLF went back from executing the project. The project was in the cold storage.
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Congress-JD(S) face-off
When D K Shivakumar became the Chief Minister, he took initiative to take the project forward, as it falls in his home district. However, Kumaraswamy started opposing it and later it was revealed that Kumaraswamy's family members own land in the proposed project area.
This has become a fight between JD(S) and Congress, where BJP has little stake. However, since BJP is alliance partner to JD(S), it is just supporting them.