The state government has announced an increase in the compensation provided to the farmers of Seegehalli, Tippur and Gonipura near Kengeri whose lands had been acquired for the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project of the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE). The farmers had been complaining that the compensation given  in exchange for their lands was meagre.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

In 1998, the state government had issued a preliminary notification for acquiring 1,916 acres of land for BMIC in these three villages. A compensation of `1.5 lakh had been fixed for an acre. The farmers were reluctant to part with their land in exchange for what they said was low compensation. Protests by the farmers had forced the state government to form a committee with the deputy commissioner as its head to look into the issue.

“The state cabinet has decided to go with the recommendations of the committee. According to this, the farmers of Tippur and Gonipura will get Rs41 lakh compensation for a hectare of land and Seegehalli farmers will get Rs40 lakh for a hectare from the NICE,” Suresh Kumar said.

“Apart from the compensation, farmers will also get developed sites. The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) had recently come out with a formula to give developed sites to farmers besides the compensation. In this case too, farmers who have lost land less than an acre will get 30x40 sq ft developed sites, while those who have lost more than an acre will get 60x40 sq ft developed site per hectare,” he said.He expressed hopes that the farmers would accept the new compensation package.