Title - Farmers seek compensation from Railways at market prices

Farmers, whose lands were acquired for the purpose of laying a railway line between Harihar and Kotturu, have said they would not allow any function to be held to inaugurate the railway line nor allow the running of trains till they were given adequate compensation.At a meeting convened at the Deputy Commissioner’s office here on Tuesday, farmers led by Honnuru Muniyappa, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) district president Honnuru Muniyappa and Aluru Nagaraj, sangha working president, said the Railways had failed to distribute compensation to the farmers whose lands were acquired.

The department had given a compensation of Rs. 28, 000 per acre to a few ‘gullible farmers’ and insisted that other farmers accept the same rate, they said. Many farmers were aware the market value of their lands was not below Rs. 8 lakh per acre, Mr. Muniyappa said, adding that unless the Railways gave at least this amount as compensation, they would not withdraw cases nor allow the Railways to inaugurate the track.

Standing crops

Mr. Muniyappa noted standing crops such as cotton, maize, sugarcane and paddy were destroyed in the first two years when the railways started lying the railway line and farmers were unable to cultivate crops since 2005 when the lands were acquired.

Farmers owning nearby lands were also unable to raise crops as labourers dumped mud in the fields.

Hence the Railways should compensate the losses sustained by the farmers, he said. He argued that all farmers whose lands were acquired should be given uniform compensation or at least compensation as per the prevailing market price. The sangha further demanded the decision taken at the Railway Board to give a job to a farmer whose land had been acquired for the purpose of lying of railway line should be acted uponS.S.Mallikarjun , Davangere MLA (north) and G.M.Siddeshwar, Davangere MP, have directed railway authorities to speed up the distribution of adequate compensation.

Jobs

Mr. Mallikarjun asked the railway authorities to provide jobs to family members of the farmers whose lands were acquired. K.C. Kondaiah, former Rajya Sabha member, and H.S.Shivashankar, MLA (Harihar) were present.