Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar today informed that the state government had fixed a compensation of Rs 30 to Rs 40 lakh per acre for land being acquired for the 3rd phase of Upper Krishna Project.
Addressing a press conference after a special Cabinet meeting at Vidhana Soudha to expedite land acquisition for the phase 3 of Upper Krishna Project, the DCM, who also holds Irrigation portfolio, said, “The state government has decided to fix a compensation of Rs 40 lakh per acre for irrigated land, Rs 30 lakh per acre for arid land and Rs 25 lakh per acre for land acquired for canals.”
“The decision on compensation has been taken after consultations with local representatives, farmers and ministers. This compensation amount is only limited to land acquired for Phase 3 of the Upper Krishna project coming under the jurisdiction of Krishna Bhagya Jal Nigama. In view of delay in Gazette notification, the state government has decided to initiate the land acquisition process to avoid further delays. The compensation amount is expected to be around Rs 70,000 crore. It has been decided to complete the land acquisition process within 3 years through direct purchase from farmers,” he explained.
“The land prices are going up in the area. The previous Bommai government had fixed a compensation of Rs 24 lakh per acre for irrigated land and Rs 20 lakh per acre for arid land. But the farmers had not agreed to the compensation in spite of the formation of a Cabinet sub-committee and hence the government was unable to go ahead with it. We have now decided to complete the land acquisition in one phase,” he said.
1.33 lakh acres to be acquired
“This project requires acquisition of 1,33,867 acres of land. Of this, 75,563 acres will be submerged and the canals need another 51,837 acres. Another 6,467 acres is needed for the rehabilitation. The land will be acquired as per the 2013 Land Acquisition Act. There are about 20,000 cases which are going on with regards to land acquisition and these disputes would be resolved though arbitration under the Land Acquisition Act of 2013. The lands which do not have any dispute will be acquired directly,” he informed.
“In view of some important cases going on as far as the rehabilitation is concerned, we have decided to formulate a new policy. We will collect the opinion of local representatives and farmers. As per the provision under Section 51 of The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, we will set up Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Compensation Authority. This Authority will be led by a Judge appointed by the Chief Justice,” he explained.
“It is the commitment of our government to complete long pending irrigation projects and give a new lease of life to our farmers. This is a historic decision with respect to Upper Krishna Project. The Krishna Water Tribunal had passed an order on 30-12-2010 allocating Karnataka its share of water. Though the final report regarding this was released on 29-11-2013, the Union government has not issued a Gazette notification,” he recalled.
Meetings postponed twice due to political pressures
“The CM and I had met the Union Jal Shakthi minister and held discussions on utilising our share of water from Krishna. The Union minister has given an in-principle approval to issue a Gazette notification on this project. A meeting was scheduled on this twice but was postponed due to political pressures from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The Union Minister has assured us that meeting would be held soon. In this backdrop, the state government is making preparations for the execution of the project,” he said.
Separate fight against Maharashtra
“The CM of Maharashtra has said that Maharashtra would approach the Supreme Court to oppose increasing the height of Alamatti dam. We will take up this fight separately and I don’t want to talk about it now. It is our duty to protect the interest of our farmers,” he noted.
Q&A
Asked about non-issue of Gazette notification on one hand and opposition from the riparian states on the other, he said, “The Krishna Water Tribunal has given its final decision and the CM of Maharashtra doesn’t have any other option. Maharashtra had in fact given its consent to increase the height of Alamatti dam. We are only trying to make use of our share of water which is currently being released to the sea. We are confident that Telangana and Andhra Pradesh would give their consent for this project. We are very confident that this project will greatly benefit our farmers and we are eagerly awaiting issue of Gazette notification by the Centre.”
