GHAZIABAD:
Farmers who own the patch of land on which the government plans to build a terminal for commercial flights at the Hindon air base in
Ghaziabad have demanded 15 times more lease rent than what they have been offered.
The land — around 7 acres — belongs to 29 farmers in Sikandarpur village to whom the Airports Authority of India (AAI) offered a lease rent of Rs 10 lakh per annum. The farmers have turned it down and demanded Rs 1.5 crore.
"We have had meetings with the farmers over lease rent but they have refused to part with their land at the rate offered by AAI," said Ritu Maheshwari, the district magistrate.
"The demand will be conveyed to the AAI, but we will keep talking to the farmers for a lower rate," she added.
Abhishek Garg, who along with his relatives owns more than half of the land parcel, said, "The market value of the land, according to the current circle rate, is Rs 70 crore and even though we are being asked to lease it, the rate offered is too less and we will not settle for anything less than Rs 1.5 crore a year."
The farmers, he added, were initially not in favor of leasing the land either but had agreed to do so because of the importance of the project. "We have no objection if the administration acquires it but leasing it out for three years at such a meagre sum is not acceptable," he said.
Of the seven acres, a little more than an acre is owned by the housing board, which is also demanding the same lease rate.
In August last year, the air force had agreed to allow the use of the air base for civilian flights under the government's regional connectivity scheme (RCS).
The AAI is supposed to build infrastructure for civilian flights next to the base's perimeter wall. The runway will be common for commercial and military planes.
Illustration for representational purpose.
