High-tension power lines keep workers away, farmers suffer

NEW DELHI: In Madhya Pradesh's Satna, Arun Kumar Tiwari claims that his family's farm holdings have been severely impacted after high-tension wires were put up.
“There are areas where workers refuse to enter due to radiation,” Tiwari said over the phone from Satna. Tiwari and some other family members together hold around 100 acres of land and claim that two sets of high-tension lines have impacted cropping on his family holdings.
When the first line from Silvar to Satna was laid, he and his brother, who hold the title for the land, were not paid any compensation as no towers were erected on their plot. “But the sagging wires impact our fields,” Tiwari said. When the second line (from Chamradol to Satna) came up, 16 of his relatives were paid Rs 19 lakh compensation as two towers were erected on their plots and high-tension cables ran over 900 metres above his brother's plot.
Farmers rights groups say it's an all-India phenomenon that causes “livelihood deprivation”. According to their calculations, each tower occupies an area ranging from 350 sq m to 750 sq m, depending on the line capacity. “Radiation in the surrounding areas leads to total reduction of the value of the land, as it cannot be used for the construction of houses, buildings, godowns, factories, or even raising plantation or horticulture crops and digging a borewell,” said farmer rights activist P Chengal Reddy.
His other grudge is about inadequate compensation to farmers and blames agencies such as Power Grid Corporation for using the Telegraph Act of 1885 instead of the Electricity Act 2003 under which the public sector company is licensed.
The 2003 Act stipulates prior consent from the farmer after paying compensation. In case a farmer refuses approval, Power Grid or another agency putting up high-tension wires is required to approach the district magistrate, who is empowered to fix the compensation. In several cases, in Andhra Pradesh, farmers have managed to get higher compensation after they approached the district magistrate.
A senior PowerGrid executive, however, denied any violation of the law and said that the company was in fact making more than prescribed compensation. “We are not leasing the land permanently. We only use if for a certain period and we compensate farmers for it,” the executive said.
Reddy and Tiwari, however, argue the land is virtually rendered useless for the farmer. “The Supreme Court, high courts and the Electricity Appellate Tribunals have passed judgments since 2007 directing PowerGrid and other transmission companies to pay compensation keeping in view the future and also the diminishing of land value. This is totally ignored by the transmission companies throughout India,” Reddy said.