K’taka govt to speed up UKP-3 land acquisition, compensation priority for affected families

Bengaluru, Sep 21 (SocialNews.XYZ) Karnataka Water Resources Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy has directed officials to expedite compensation for beneficiaries whose land is pending acquisition under the first and second phases of the Upper Krishna Project (UKP), while beginning land acquisition for UKP Stage-3 on a proportionate basis as per government rules.

The minister issued the directions during a meeting at Vidhana Soudha on Monday to discuss acquisition of land belonging to 184 villages expected to be submerged by the backwaters of the Almatti reservoir. He instructed officials to follow government guidelines and strictly avoid arbitrary decisions. Ministers and legislators from constituencies under the project area may also submit written suggestions regarding various stages of acquisition.

Cheluvarayaswamy said the government had already fixed compensation rates per acre under an order issued last year. If officials are confused about building compensation, they should write to the department for clarification. He added that the issue would be brought to the Chief Minister’s notice for appropriate guidelines.

The responsibility of identifying land for rehabilitation has been entrusted to gram panchayats. Cheluvarayaswamy also warned of legal action over allegations of sale agreements involving rehabilitation centres for amounts running into crores of rupees. A separate meeting on R.C. shelters will be convened shortly in the interest of project-affected families.

Officials held detailed discussions on prioritising 79 villages where acquisition is already at various stages among the 184 villages facing submergence. The government will take up acquisition of another 87 villages, for which notifications are yet to be issued, based on flood-affected status. In contrast, villages in the final stage will be considered later.

The government has set a target of distributing compensation for around 15,000 acres out of the total 75,563 acres this year. Of the 5,600 acres in Babaleshwar, compensation should be provided immediately for at least 1,000 acres, Minister M.B. Patil urged. He pointed out that although funds had already been released for 18 villages, those in Vijayapura district were not included. Responding, Cheluvarayaswamy assured that the proposed Rs 3,000 crore would be distributed equally among six Assembly constituencies covered by the project, with Rs 500 crore allocated to each.

The UKP Stage-3 envisages raising the height of the Almatti dam gates from 519.60 metres to 524.256 metres, enabling storage of an additional 100 TMC of water, besides implementing nine sub-projects. The project requires acquisition of 1,33,867 acres of land. Compensation, earlier fixed at Rs 2 lakh per acre, was increased last year to Rs 40 lakh per acre for irrigated land and Rs 30 lakh per acre for dry land.

Land acquisition has already been completed in 18 villages, while acquisition remains pending for 71,284 acres covering 166 villages. Some court cases are being resolved through Lok Adalats.

Ministers Vijanand Kashappanavar and Laxman Savadi, former minister R.B. Thimmapur, Water Resources Department Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta and senior officials of Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited (KBJNL) attended the meeting.

Later, Cheluvarayaswamy held a meeting on land acquisition in Govindapalli and Karadigudda villages in Devadurga taluk, affected by the backwaters of Ramadurga tank. He assured farmers that steps would be taken regarding compensation. Officials were directed to study the affected villages and submit a report for providing compensation for 243.43 acres of land.

Source: IANS