Karnataka: Farmers oppose land acquisition for aerospace park, CM to hold talks on July 4

Farmers are up in arms against the Karnataka government over the acquisition of 1,777 acres of farmland in 13 villages in Devanahalli taluk for a proposed aerospace and tech park.

 

Farmers, who have been protesting for more than three months, held a 'Devanahalli Chalo' protest march on Wednesday, demanding that the land be denotified and reminded the Siddaramaiah government that the Congress party had stood with the farmers when the previous BJP government notified the land in 2022.

 

Actor Prakash Raj, who joined the protest, said it was a betrayal. “Siddaramaiah, who was in opposition during the BJP rule, had assured the farmers that he would support their cause. But now, the Congress government has issued the final notification for land acquisition,” he said.

 

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah met a delegation of farmer leaders, activists and film actors on Thursday and assured to hold a meeting on July 4 to discuss the issue. Social activist Sirimane Nagaraj said the protests would not be halted till the land was denotified.

 

The farmers expressed their anger against Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development M.B. Patil over the decision to selectively denotify land in three out of the 13 villages, stating it was a “divide and rule” strategy of the government.

 

The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB), in 2021, notified 1,777 acres of land across 13 villages—Palya, Haralur, Polanahalli, Gokerebachenahalli, Nallur, Mallepura, Nallappanahalli, Cheemachanahalli, Muddenahalli, Hadyala, Channarayapatna, Muttibarlu and Shrotiya Telohalli. However, the minister announced that 495 acres in three villages would be exempted.

 

“As the farmers in Channarayapatna, Muttibarlu and Shrotiya Telohalli villages have lost their land twice for industrial purposes, we are exempting 495 acres of land in these villages and would go ahead with the acquisition of 1,232 acres. The district administration will fix the compensation for those losing land. They may also choose to take his share of developed land – 10,771 sqft for every acre lost,” Patil had announced on Tuesday.

 

The farmers are contending that more than 80 per cent of the people who would be losing their land were against parting with their land as they had no other means of livelihood other than farming, “Do you want the self-reliant farmers to work as security guards in the industries that will come up on our farmland,” asked farmers. 

 

 

India