Panchayats seek more compensation for land acquisition

  • 19/02/2008

  • Hindu

Gram panchayat members of 19 villages have demanded that the compensation for land acquisition be increased from Rs.75 lakh per acre to Rs.2 crore. At a meeting organised by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijay Goel at Alipur here, it was pointed out that the Delhi Government had increased the compensation from Rs.25 lakh per acre to only Rs.75 lakh per acre in the last ten years, "even though the market price in these areas had gone up to Rs.3 crore per acre'. The panchayat members also said that the Delhi Development Authority had not shown any population in these 19 villages and declared the area fit for agriculture in the Master Plan for Delhi-2021. Mr. Goel said people had been living in these 19 villages -- some of which are Libaspura, Siraspur, Kheda Kalan, Kheda Khurd, Holambi Kalan, Narela, Teen Gaon and Seekri Khurd -- since the time the British introduced the concept of "Lal Dora'. He said the Government should roll back its decision wherein a farmer having plot of up to eight acres would have to sell it in one chunk. "This would prevent farmers from selling their land in smaller chunks,' he said. Mr. Goel also accused the Government of not doing anything for the farmers. Private companies were harassing villagers living on the outskirts of the city for acquiring their land, he added.