Farmers not keen to offer land for Investment Region

There is money enough to purchase land in Devanahalli for the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR), but the land is not coming easy as there are pockets in the region where people don’t want to sell the land. Land around the Arkavathi river has been their lifeline.

The Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) had recently sanctioned a loan of Rs 1,000 crore for acquisition purposes, but land has  to be available to utilise the loan which is now unused.

Government sources say people may not relent easily because they are not yet clear what they will do with the compensation money.

“I have known many who come and tell me that they are satisfied with the life they live. They don’t dream of apartments like Bengalureans now do. They are not sure what kind of work and employment they will get. And if the money they get is not saved appropriately, it could end up in a doomed future. Negotiating these issues is taking time and the government will have to work hard to come up with something attractive,” a government source told Deccan Herald.

The land particularly, in the Arkavathi region, is fertile and agricultural and commands a high price - ranging from Rs one crore to Rs two crore per acre. Given that the land is located in the Arkavathy river’s catchment area, it would be difficult to convince farmers. Arkavathi is the primary drinking water source to many villages in Devanahalli. The former union minister for petroleum and natural gas M Veerappa Moily, MP from Chikkaballapur, had opposed land acquisition in two villages in Devanahali taluk for the ITIR project.

The Arkavathi originates at Nandi Hills of Chikkaballapura district. It is a tributary of the Cauvery, which it joins at a point 34 km south of Kanakapura, called Sangama, after flowing through Ramanagara and Kanakapura. The river drains into the Chikkarayappanahalli Lake near Kanivenarayanapura.

Kumudvathi and Vrishabhavathi rivers are tributaries to this river. While the water is precious for irrigation for farmers in the region, it is also a water supply source to Bengaluru. The BWSSB supplies 135 million litres of drinking water per day to Bengaluru or about 20 per cent of the city's water. As it is filtered in the nearby mountain aquifer, the water is fresh. It is taken from two reservoirs built on the river, the Hesaraghatta, built in 1894, and Thippagondanahalli reservoir (T G Halli), built in 1933. The farmers are agitated that a good portion of the water is consumed by people in cities, while they get nothing in return.

The process of convincing farmers is on with a promise of a share of developed land, but how long this will take no one is sure. Notification for 2,072 acres of land has been issued, but the actual acquisition has not been done. The government will have to acquire another 7,500 acres, but by the time the government acquires this land, farmers may come up with more conditions. ITIR is coming up on over 10,000 acres spread across 40 sqkm. Around 30 villages have been identified in Devanahalli and Doddaballapur taluks for the project.