UP govt hikes land compensation for phase 2 of airport, farmers still unhappy

Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh took around 200 farmers to Lucknow, where they met chief minister Yogi Adityanath who agreed to increase the land compensation to ₹3,100 per sqm along with interest from the date when the notification to acquire the land was issued

A day after the Uttar Pradesh government hiked the compensation for the agricultural land being acquired for the airport project’s second phase, a section of farmers demanded a better rehabilitation package and said farmers who gave land under the first phase are yet to get adequate living facilities in Jewar’s Bangar where they were shifted after their houses were razed.

Farmers after meeting with chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow. (HT Photo)

On Wednesday, the Uttar Pradesh government hiked the land compensation from the current ₹2,650 per square metre (SQM) to ₹3,300-3,400 per sqm. The state government had already acquired and handed over 1,334 hectares in Jewar to the Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL) , a 100% subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, which is building the airport. The work is on in full swing and the first phase has a completion deadline of September 29, 2024.

Now the government has a target to acquire 1,185 hectares for setting up the third runway and commercial MRO centre (maintenance, repair and overhaul work of aircraft). The six villages from which land is being acquired are Karauli Bangar, Dayanatpur, Kureb, Ranhera and Mundhera.

However, farmers objected to the second phase acquisition and demanded a land compensation that is four times the existing circle rate -- they wanted about ₹3,600 per sqm against the ₹2,650 per sqm offered by the government -- halting the process midway.

Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh took around 200 farmers to Lucknow, where they met chief minister Yogi Adityanath who agreed to increase the land compensation to ₹3,100 per sqm along with interest from the date when the notification to acquire the land was issued.

“Farmers requested the chief minister to increase the land compensation and said they deserve a hike as they are supporting the airport project for the sake of development. After the latest hike, the rate is now ₹3,400 per sqm, which is close to what they demanded,” said MLA Singh.

Now the Gautam Budh Nagar administration will start distribution of compensation to farmers and take possession of the land for the second phase of the airport. District magistrate Suhas LY, who was in Lucknow with the farmers, refused comment on the issue.

Even after the hike, a few farmers wrote to the administration expressing their anger over the new rates.

“We were demanding land rates four times the current circle rate. It should have been ₹3,600 per sqm. The government, administration and local leaders do not farmers to benefit,” said Ajay Singh, a farmer leader from Dayanatpur village.

Devdutt Sharma, a farmer from Banwaribas, whose 5 bighas of land (3.095 acres) has been acquired under phase 1, said, “The government should not do injustice to those who willingly gave their land under phase 1 at a lower rate. Had we not given up our land,the airport would not have been possible. But now the government wants to ignore our plight and give more compensation under phase 2.”