Land acquisition or land grab?

Yamuna Expressway, formerly known as Taj Expressway project was conceived with the idea of reducing the travel time between New Delhi and Agra. It will be a 6-lane (extendable to 8 lanes) access-controlled Expressway and will connect Delhi with Agra via Mathura. Indeed it would give an impetus to infrastructural development and would encourage tourism and related industries but the moot point remain that is the propensity of this magnum opus project meant only for the rich or is it conceptualized on an inclusive growth model.

The Ganga Yamuna basin the site for this mammoth 165km expressway is a supremely fertile and productive stretch of land, and most of it falls in and around the Delhi-NCR region which by all means of imagination is considered to be highly developed. So my opinion is that why not take the developmental and infrastructural work to other non productive lands in the interior parts of Uttar Pradesh which by official figures is around 16 lakh hectares, why only western U.P is seeing a developmental splurge . Why not the Bundhelkhand region, it’s almost like the forgotten land of India.

Now coming to the Bhatta Parsaul issue, it’s a shame that the biggest democracy in the world still relies on antediluvian colonial rules. Our land acquisition act was framed by the British in the year 1894, to suit their liking and take over vast tracts of land it continued in the industrial expansion of the Nehruvian era. But this archaic law gives the government carte blanche powers to acquire the land and this according to me is against the fundamental tenets of a civil society. A new land act should be drafted tabled and passed as early as the next parliament session. It is a major deterrent for FDI’s in our country and have already cost us foreign projects worth billions of dollars. The new land act should protect the rights of the land owner holistically, and if due to national interest the land has to be acquired by the government the prevailing land rate should be given to the owner, a lease system can also be thought of where the government has to renew the lease of he land after a certain tenure.

Over 58,000 hectares of land has been earmarked in the draft master plan of the Yamuna expressway project, most of it for development. From 2009 till now, the government has acquired around 12 per cent of the land for Rs. 5,720 crores. But today, this land is worth at least Rs. 78,000 crores.The biggest beneficiary being the Jaypee group ,the government has also given Jaypee Group about 6,000 acres, which is the largest chunk. Of this, 2,500 acres is prime land as it is right along the Expressway. They have also been given an additional 2,500 acres, which is the site of the upcoming Formula 1 race track - part of the sports city Jaypee is making .While the race track is expected to be ready by October this year, the first residential property will be completed in three years time, although many parts of it are already up for sale. The property here is being sold for Rs. 18,000 per square meter. Jaypee, however, had bought this land from the government at just about Rs. 350 more than the price the government had paid to the farmer for it. This means Jaypee is selling it for 18 times that price.

It took 40,000 farmer suicides for the P.M to take stalk of the Vidharbha region issues. Now what will it take for the centre to take cognizance of the grotesque atrocities on the farmers of this region. There have been unconfirmed reports of state violence and mass murders of farmers. Rahul Gandhi met the P.M and released photos indicting heinous crimes against the farmers. There have been reports of women being raped houses being vandalized. Is this democracy or have we descended to the primeval times where the powerful dominated the meek.