Devanahalli farmers are opposing the commerce industry's decision to acquiring fertile agricultural land for industrial purposes without any prior consultation in Karnataka.
(Image: Chetan Bhakuni/ The Quint)
Anithamma, a 30-year old agricultural labourer from Bommanahalli village in Devanahalli taluk, travels to the neighbouring village of Polanhalli to work on a tomato farm. She is accompanied by her sister-in-law and mother-in-law who also work on the farm, earning Rs 350 each, to feed a family of 10. Meanwhile, her husband attends to the cattle and takes care of his aged father.
Devanahalli is located about 40 kilometers from Bengaluru. Farmers of the village supply huge quantities of vegetables and fruits to Bengaluru's core city.
Farmers from the 13 villages, of whom more than 350 are going to be landless, due to the development of Haraluru Industrial Area are holding protests in Devanahalli.
“I fear that we will be out of employment very soon. The government is taking away the land for building big industries and the land owners will be compensated. But, what about us? Where do we go for work, there is no land anymore,” complained Anithamma, as she spoke to The Quint.
Anithamma's family is now on protest path, against Karnataka government's industries and commerce department, even as they work on the farmland for a living everyday.
The struggle of these landless farm labourers will be further heightened with the Karnataka government trying to float a global tender inviting industries to open factories in Devanahalli.
Farmers from 13 villages took out a rally in Devanahalli on17 April, 2022 demanding that the Karnataka government roll back its decision to acquire land for developing Haraluru industrial area. They were also supported by the citizens of Devanahalli who called for the district band on the same day.
Anithamma works on a farm owned by Pramod Kumar, who has also been served a preliminary notice by the government to give up his three acres of land. The farmer who cultivates tomatoes and grapes, has also faced severe losses due to excessive rainfall in the last few months.
That is, from a landless farm labourer to a land owning farmer, the land acquisition has affected scores of agriculturists.
A total of 900 families are expected to be directly affected by the land acquisition and 387 families may be completely landless if KIADB goes ahead with the Haraluru industrial area project.
The farmers are on the 82nd day of agitation against Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board which plans to acquire 1,777 acres of land in Devanahalli, near Bengaluru, Karnataka.
The gazette notification for the acquisition process was issued on 27 August 2021 and the farmers were given notice about the same in January 2022. The government also called for an objection hearing, but the farmers whom The Quint spoke to had not attended this hearing, they said, as it was "held in Bengaluru during the COVID-19 third wave."
Farmers in Devanahalli are also angry that they were not consulted before the state government decided to acquire their land.
Like many other farmers from the 13 villages, N Muniraja of Polanhalli also balances working at the farm, running errands at home, and also effectively participating in the protests against the state government.
Over 90-100 farmers everyday gather in front of the government office in Channrayapattna Hobli to mark their protest against acquisition for cultivated land in Devanahalli taluk.
Earlier in 2018-19, the KIADB had acquired 1282 acres of land as a part of its first phase of land acquisition for developing Haraluru industrial area. Though the farmers were promised Rs.1.1 crore per acre, even back then, over 50 percent of them are yet to get their compensations.
Speaking to The Quint, A Devaraj, a 44 year old farmer from Muddenhalli said:
Dalit organisations also held a rally in solidarity with the farmers who are about become landless in Devanahalli's Channarayapatna Hobli.
Apart from the land acquired for the development of an international airport, the villages in Channarayapatna Hobli lost over 900 acres to the development of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in 2013. Again, in 2018-19, the villages lost 1282 acres of land for the development of Haraluru industrial area. In total, the 13 villages have lost over 5,000 acres land.
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