GB Nagar: Farmers call off agitation over Jewar airport after assurances
Farmers, seeking better rehabilitation and settlement facilities against their land, said that in case the UP government fails to address their grievances, they will again agitate
GREATER NOIDA: The protesting farmers affected by the Noida international airport land acquisition ended their agitation on Monday after assurances from Yamuna expressway industrial development authority (Yeida) officials ers and Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh.
Farmers, seeking better rehabilitation and settlement facilities against their land, said that in case the Uttar Pradesh government fails to address their grievances, they will again resort to agitation against Yeida officials.
The Uttar Pradesh government had on October 30, 2018 notified acquisition of 1,239.14 hectares of land for the development of Noida International Greenfield Airport’s stage 1 under phase I at Jewar. Subsequently, the land was acquired in 2020 by using section 11 (1) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. On this 1239.14 hectare land, the airport is likely to witness operations by April 17, 2025, said officials.
The government under second and third phases needs to acquire a total of 2,053 hectares of land of which 1,889 hectare is private land and the rest is government land.
There are 14 villages including Thora, Neemka, Ramner, Kishorpur, Dayanatpur and Bankapur among others, where the land will be acquired under the third and fourth phase. However, for the last two years the farmers staged protests for better rehabilitation and settlement for their families.
“Our key demand is that the government is not giving us a fair compensation against our assets that include tubewell, house, trees and other kinds of construction paving way for the rehabilitation of our families. We have assured the Jewar MLA not to continue the agitation that we have done in the villages for two years. The MLA promised to communicate our plight to the state government and the Yamuna authority officials,” said KP Singh, a farmer from Ranhera.
At least 400 farmers from different affected villages including Ranhera, Kureb and Nagla Jahanu gathered at Rabupura to emphasise their demands. The MLA communicated their issues to Yeida officials over phone and appealed to stop the agitation.
The farmers got the compensation money against their land but most of them are yet to get the money against their properties including tubewells, houses, shed and other structures, which are making way for the airport project that is planned on around 6,000 hectares of land when it will reach full capacity.
Yeida and the Noida international airport CEO Arun Vir Singh said: “We will take appropriate measures to address the issues being faced by the farmers.”
“We have assured them that we will work honestly and strongly for their issues, ensuring they get better compensation against their properties being acquired. We will communicate grievances of farmers to the Uttar Pradesh government and try our best to deliver justice,” the MLA said.