Gurgaon farmers to move SC against land transfer

DIPAK KUMAR DASH

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, APRIL 01, 2007 03:16:37 AM]

GURGAON: Even as the anti-SEZ front threatens to stage a protest on
Sunday against West Bengal chief minister Budhadeb Bhattacharya's visit
to Delhi, trouble over a SEZ (special economic zone) is brewing near
Gurgaon.

Farmers from five villages near Garhi Harsaru in Gurgaon — Khandsa,
Narsinghpur, Mohammedpur, Gadauli and Harsaru — are opposing the
transfer of 1,395 acres of land to Reliance Industries by Haryana State
Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation (HSIIDC) for setting up a SEZ
in the region.

Alleging that HSIIDC was cheating them by giving the land to Reliance as
it had been acquired by them solely for industrial development in this
region, these farmers have now decided to take the issue to Supreme Court.

Ironically, the protest comes a few days after a survey conducted by a
private agency had claimed that 75% of the farmers in Haryana were
satisfied with the compensation package of the state government for
developing a SEZ.

''We are ready to face anything to save our land from being transferred
to Reliance,'' said Chetan Chauhan, a member of Harsaru Panchayat. He
said farmers sold the land to HSIIDC at a revised rate of Rs 20.75 lakh
per acre.

''But this is nothing in comparison to what the company is paying to
farmers directly which is crores,'' said Rao Srikrishan of Harsaru.

The farmers say that since the HSIIDC did not acquire the agricultural
land for a SEZ, they have no right to transfer the land the company.
''Even as Union Commerce minister Kamal Nath says that no fertile land
should be acquired for SEZ, HSIIDC has gone ahead,'' said an angry
Dharambir Yadav, ex-sarpanch of Garhi village.

The agitation against the administration and Haryana government,
meanwhile, is gathering steam. Recently, the angry protesters threw
stones at bulldozers sent by the administration to demolish structures
falling in the upcoming SEZ region.

Both the government and HSIIDC maintain they are not doing anything
illegal. ''The government has not acquired a single inch of fresh land
for SEZ. This particular patch was acquired during the tenure of the
previous government.

Now it's for us to transfer that land to Reliance Industries as part of
our joint venture agreement,'' said a senior HSIIDC official. He added
that the agreement had been signed in June and there had been no protests.

dipak.dash@timesgroup.com

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