Farmers begin agitation against Noida authority

Demanding a hike in compensation for land acquired for development and a settlement on the Abadi land issue, farmers from several villages in Noida attempted to begin an indefinite protest in front of the Noida Authority main administrative building in Sector 6 on Wednesday

Demanding a hike in compensation for land acquired for development and a settlement on the Abadi land issue, farmers from several villages in Noida attempted to begin an indefinite protest in front of the Noida Authority main administrative building in Sector 6 on Wednesday.

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Although the police thwarted, stopping around 300 protesters in Harola village while on their way to Sector 6 at around noon, the farmers said they will resume their protest from Thursday.

The land acquisition had begun in 1990 and farmers now say they want enhanced compensation and at least 10% of the acquired land returned as residential plots. Apart from this, they also demanded a park in each village, roads and better civic amenities, among others.

Abadi lands are habitation areas in villages. But what is termed habitation area by farmers is referred to as encroachment by the authority that wants to acquire it for development. According to guidelines brought out by the government, if the habitation has been around before 2011, then the authority will not acquire it and leave it for farmers’ use. In July, the Noida Authority started a process to resolve the longstanding issue.

Sukhbir Khalifa, who is leading the agitation, announced that the agitation will continue till all demands are accepted. On Wednesday, while stopping the farmers, police detained Khalifa and others who were later.

“We will garner support and restart our agitation on Thursday no matter police high handedness or the Noida authority that has ruined the livelihood of farmers,” said Ashok Chauhan, a farmer of Nagli Wazidpur.

Noida Authority officer on special duty Avinash Tripathi said that the farmers’ demands will be dealt with in accordance to the rules.

Police said they will act against protesters for violating the prohibitory orders that is in force in the district due to the pandemic. They said the protesters was cleared in under an hour without the use of force.

“We knew about the protest and prepared for it by putting up barricades and managing traffic. Special units of the Rapid Action Force were deployed along with the local police to manage the situation. The protest was scheduled for the Noida Authority office but as soon as the group reached the barricading, they started arguing with law enforcement officials following which they were detained and taken to police lines,” said additional deputy commissioner of police (zone 1) Kumar Ranvijay Singh.