The State government, which has crossed a significant legal hurdle with the National Green Tribunal on the controversial Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Project, is, however, finding it difficult to purchase land required for the project in the first phase.
Landowners, particularly coffee growers, have once again raised objections to the revised price fixed by the Direct Purchase Committee, headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Hassan. The committee, which met under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri on Tuesday, fixed the price for dry land, coffee plantation, wetland, garden, and converted land.
According to a note from the district administration, the price was fixed considering the landowners’ responses to the initial proposals. Initially, the price was fixed considering the average price at which land purchases were registered in the last three years. In that case, the price differed from village to village, prompting farmers to raise objections. This time, a uniform price was fixed, irrespective of the locality.
The State Cabinet had given its approval for direct purchase of the land so as to speed up the execution of the project being implemented by Visvesvaraya Jala Nigam Ltd. In the first phase of the project, an extent of 448 acres and 33 guntas of private land is required. For an acre of a coffee plantation, the committee has fixed a price of ₹38.46 lakh. In all, ₹151.01 crore would be required for purchasing land needed for phase one.
T.P. Surendra, a planter at Devihalli, was among the 11 people in the village who voluntarily gave up a total of 27 acres of land in March 2016, on the authorities’ assurance of a good price, besides interest. Civil work on the project could be started because of such people.
‘We are being cheated’
He is, however, unhappy now. “Now we are being cheated,” he alleged. The government decided to purchase land directly from the owners. But, the owners are disappointed with the price fixed because the committee did not take pepper, areca and banana crops in coffee plantation into account.
“As of now, pepper is the main crop for many coffee growers. But if you do not consider its value, we will face a loss,” he said.
During a meeting held in Sakleshpur, the growers had demanded ₹1 crore per acre of a coffee plantation.
C.S. Mahesh, president of the Hassan District Planters’ Association, said, “We were expecting at least ₹60 lakh per acre. But, the committee has fixed a lower price. We will oppose this price and demand more. Moreover, the committee did not invite either planters or representatives of the planters’ associations for the meeting. When the government is directly purchasing the land, it should talk to the landowner directly.”