'Time has come to stop further land acquisition'

18 March, 2013

A number of social activists have said that the time has come when 'we need to stop any further land acquisition, and keeping in mind the growing population, fix a certain amount of land for food security, otherwise we are threatening the future of our generation'. They were addressing intelligentsia at Indore, after Mumbai-Delhi DMIC Virodhi Sangharsh Yatra, reached there after traversing through Gujarat.

Medha Patkar, speaking at the meeting, deplored that the Madhya Pradesh government has not yet been able to rehabilitate the lakhs of people affected by dams on the Narmada, and yet they are planning to displace thousands of people in the name of development again, under the DMIC.

Babu Singh Patel of Kisan Sangharsh Samiti said, “Acquisition of thousands of acres of fertile land will threaten and expose the claims and seriousness of the Chief Minister in increasing food grain production in Madhya Pradesh.”

Medha Patkar, Anil Trivedi, Tapan Bhattacharya and Narmada Bachao Andolan activists welcomed the yatris at the Indore railway station. The yatra visited Kali Billod village near Pithampur Industrial Area, where section 4 notices under the Land Acquisition Act have been issued without even intimating them.

The farmers came to know of it after notices were published in two lesser-circulated newspapers. They challenged this, sent their reservations to the collector, and even met the Chief Minister. Mr. Chauhan promised them that not a single inch of land would be acquired without the consent of farmers.

Even then, the collector passed the award at an extremely low rate for their land. The farmers approached the High Court, and finally got a stay on some portion of the land owing to some procedural irregularities, but the forceful acquisition is still hanging over their heads. The farmers pledged to join the Jantar Mantar Kisan Khet Mazdoor Mahapanchayat in Delhi on March 18.

Adv. Anil Trivedi said, “Legally speaking, the project planning is faulty in many ways and we need to challenge this. The challenge to illegal implementation is one thing, but the question of democratic development planning has to be addressed. DMIC is an attack on sovereign rights of citizens of a sovereign nation”.