Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 16 : Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday informed that the state government had fixed a compensation of Rs 30 to Rs 40 lakh per acre for land being acquired for the 3rd phase of Upper Krishna Project.
Addressing a press conference after a special Cabinet meeting at Vidhana Soudha to expedite land acquisition for the phase 3 of Upper Krishna Project, the DyCM, who also holds Irrigation portfolio, said, "The state government has decided to fix a compensation of Rs 40 lakh per acre for irrigated land, Rs 30 lakh per acre for arid land and Rs 25 lakh per acre for land acquired for canals."
"The decision on compensation has been taken after consultations with local representatives, farmers and ministers. This compensation amount is limited only to land acquired for Phase 3 of the Upper Krishna project coming under the jurisdiction of Krishna Bhagya Jal Nigama. In view of the delay in the Gazette notification, the state government has decided to initiate the land acquisition process to avoid further delays. The compensation amount is expected to be around Rs 70,000 crore. It has been decided to complete the land acquisition process within three years through direct purchase from farmers," he said.
"The land prices are going up in the area. The previous Bommai government had fixed a compensation of Rs 24 lakh per acre for irrigated land and Rs 20 lakh per acre for arid land. But the farmers had not agreed to the compensation in spite of the formation of a Cabinet sub-committee, and hence the government was unable to go ahead with it. We have now decided to complete the land acquisition in one phase," he said.
Shivakumar mentioned that this project requires the acquisition of 1,33,867 acres of land, of this, 75,563 acres will be submerged, and the canals need another 51,837 acres.
"Another 6,467 acres is needed for the rehabilitation. The land will be acquired as per the 2013 Land Acquisition Act. There are about 20,000 cases which are going on with regard to land acquisition, and these disputes would be resolved through arbitration under the Land Acquisition Act of 2013. The lands which do not have any dispute will be acquired directly," he informed.
"In view of some important cases going on as far as rehabilitation is concerned, we have decided to formulate a new policy. We will collect the opinion of local representatives and farmers. As per the provision under Section 51 of The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, we will set up the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Compensation Authority. This Authority will be led by a Judge appointed by the Chief Justice," Shivakumar explained.
The Karnataka Deputy CM emphasised further that it is the commitment of his government to complete long-pending irrigation projects and give a new lease of life to the farmers.
"This is a historic decision with respect to the Upper Krishna Project. The Krishna Water Tribunal had passed an order on December 30, 2010, allocating Karnataka its share of water. Though the final report regarding this was released on November 29, 2013, the Union government has not issued a Gazette notification," he recalled.
"The CM and I had met the Union Jal Shakthi minister and held discussions on utilising our share of water from Krishna. The Union minister has given an in-principle approval to issue a Gazette notification on this project. A meeting was scheduled on this twice, but was postponed due to political pressures from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The Union Minister has assured us that a meeting will be held soon. In this backdrop, the state government is making preparations for the execution of the project," he said.
Asked about the non-issue of the Gazette notification on one hand and opposition from the riparian states on the other, Shivakumar said, "The Krishna Water Tribunal has given its final decision, and the CM of Maharashtra doesn't have any other option. Maharashtra had, in fact, given its consent to increase the height of the Alamatti dam. We are only trying to make use of our share of water, which is currently being released to the sea. We are confident that Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will give their consent for this project. We are very confident that this project will greatly benefit our farmers, and we are eagerly awaiting the issue of the Gazette notification by the Centre."