Noida airport: Farmers demand four times the circle rate, threaten stir
› Sixteen villages in rural Jewar were demarcated as urban. These villagers will now be given twice the circle rate, as opposed to four times the rate, had their land been rural.
DHIRENDRA SINGH, Jewar MLA
NOIDA: Farmers and villagers attending the camps organised by the district administration, to hear residents’ grievances related to the land acquisition process for the Noida international airport in Jewar, have demanded four times the prevalent circle rate. They said unless their demand is met, they will resort to a Bhatta-Parsaul type of protest.
In 2010, four persons, including two policemen, were killed in sporadic violence after the Mayawati-led government attempted to acquire land from villagers to set up planned sectors. While a few villagers refused to sell their land, many were unhappy with the compensation received from the government. Villagers had claimed that the actual lives lost were around 20.
A meeting in this regard took place on Wednesday in Parohi village. Administration officials along with officials from the Gautam Buddha University are holding meetings with villagers. The Uttar Pradesh government had selected the university to conduct a social impact assessment (SIA) in villages— a mandatory process before any largescale land acquisition— on January 10 this year. Farmers attending the meeting have opposed the move to declare the area as ‘urban’ because that would make the compensation payable just two times the circle rate, instead of four times the circle rate as would be applicable in rural areas. Villagers demanded that they should be getting four times the rate, or get all urban facilities in their villages, if their land is to be treated as urban.
Villagers have threatened that if their demands are not met, their protest may turn violent as it did in Bhatta-Parsaul. “Most of the villagers have the same demand — that their compensation should be four times the circle rate. Farmers are upset over the fact that the area has been declared as urban, but the facilities are still ‘rural’. Many have demanded that they be given land and other facilities in Noida city,” Prasoon Dwivedi, subdivisional magistrate, Jewar, said.
The meetings will continue till June 2. Thousands of villagers have been taking part in the meetings. “People are turning up in huge numbers to discuss the issue. We will be preparing a report based on the demand of the villagers, and it will be submitted to the state government which will take a final call on the compensation,” Dwivedi said. “There are 16 villages in rural Jewar that have recently been demarcated as urban areas. These villagers will now be given twice the circle rate for their land, as opposed to four times the rate they would have got had their land been rural. This is unfair and a middle ground needs to be reached so that it is beneficial for farmers as well as the state,” Dhirendra Singh, Jewar MLA, said.