KIADB with 1,000 acres; farmers helpless

KHANAPUR(BELGAUM): Though farmers throughout the state are opposing the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board’s (KIADB) acquisition of fertile land to establish industries, surprisingly it has established control over 1,000 acres in Malwad village in Khanapur taluk without informing the farmers.According to the Mutation Register (MR) and other documents available with Express, these 150 ill-fated farmers do not have any rights over their land, but can grow crops till KIADB assigns the land to an industry. Farmers are worried as their land has been numbered by officials.“How can they perform agricultural activities in such uncertainty?’ asks Gangadhar Maddimani, an NGO worker.Special Land Acquisition Officer of KIADB Dharwad had issued notices to Renuka Sanjay Pathan and others of Malwad on July 31, 2010, citing that land having survey numbers 35, 77, 17 and 105, has been identified for Land Bank Project.It received many objections. As many as 150 farmers approached advocates and and filed objections through them to the same authority; they thought that was the end of their worries.However, farmers were shocked when they found out that their lands were hypothecated to KIADB in the last column of  the record of rights. The irony is that the records themselves show that the land is fertile and gives two crops every year. In most of the records, it can be found that this land has good irrigation system also.Khanapur tahsildar Shivanand Bhajantri told Express that he has been instructed by the Under Secretary of KIADB to add the name under 4(1) of KIADB Act. Manager, Special Land Acquisition Office of KIADB Dharwad, V G Gulaguli, also confirmed that the land is notified under 28(1) of KIADB Act and the hearing is pending before the board.“The issue is pending before the government. If the government instructs us to drop the land, we will do so.”