The officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said Friday that farmers have been disrupting work on the Delhi- Meerut Expressway for demanding a hiked compensation for their land that was acquired for the expressway project.
NHAI officials said the farmers’ stir partially affected work on Phase 4 -- 23km stretch from Dasna to Meerut -- of the expressway on Thursday while it completely hampered the work on Friday as farmers arrived at the work site in their tractor-trolleys, motorcycles and other vehicles.
The DME has been planned in four phases as a high-speed access-controlled expressway to connect Delhi and Meerut. “Work was disrupted in different patches of Phase 4 and primarily at Moradabad village near Bhojpur. Farmers did not allow the movement of our trucks carrying earth for filling and other allied works. The disruptions were partial on Thursday while it was almost complete on Friday,” Mudit Garg, project director, NHAI, said.
During their protest at Govindpuram grain market in Ghaziabad on September 16, farmers had demanded more land compensation, at the rate of ₹8,500 per square metre (sqm), the same as the rate paid to farmers of Dasna village.
“In our village, different land owners have received compensation ranging from ₹2,500 per sqm to ₹6,500 per sqm. We demand that all farmers be given land compensation at the same rate as it was given to Dasna farmers. The rate of compensation should be the same for all,” Mukesh Pradhan, former chief of Moradabad village, said.
{{/usCountry}}“In our village, different land owners have received compensation ranging from ₹2,500 per sqm to ₹6,500 per sqm. We demand that all farmers be given land compensation at the same rate as it was given to Dasna farmers. The rate of compensation should be the same for all,” Mukesh Pradhan, former chief of Moradabad village, said.
{{/usCountry}}“Until that happens, we will continue our protest at the construction site and will not allow the expressway work to proceed,” he said.
The farmers have also demanded an increase in the length of service road alongside the expressway for better connectivity to their farmlands and nearby villages.
According to NHAI officials, the farmers under the DME project have been paid land compensation of about ₹60 crore per kilometre as opposed to ₹40 crore per kilometre given to farmers whose land was acquired for the Eastern Peripheral Expressway.
The Phase 4 of DME is presently 74% complete and is expected to be ready by the end of 2020.
“Farmers are camping at the site but we have deployed a police force to ensure that there is no law and order situation. Their protest has remained peaceful until now. We will ensure that the DME work is not hampered,” Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, superintendent of police (rural), said.
The district officials said they are reviewing the demands of farmers and have also referred some cases to the state administration for its consideration.
“During the previous meeting with farmers, we assured them of a solution soon. We will speak to farmers again and urge them not to disrupt the DME work as it is a public utility project,” Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate, said.
The work on Phase 2, a 19.2km stretch from UP Gate to Dasna, is also underway and likely to be over by December.