Dadupur-Nalvi canal decommission: Three years on, just 10% Haryana farmers return compensation to get back land

In May 2016, the Punjab and Haryana high court ordered the award of compensation at ₹1.16 crore per acre. The BJP government, however, decided to de-notify the project in September 2017 and issued this notification in August 2018

Three years after the Dadupur-Nalvi canal, spread across 125 villages of Yamunanagar, Ambala and Kurukshetra districts was decommissioned by the BJP government; less than 10% farmers have returned the money paid to them as compensation for acquiring their land.

Wild growth at the canal, a project that was conceptualised in the mid 1980s. (HT photo)

The scheme was conceptualised in 1985-87 and taken over by the Congress government in 2005, to connect Dadupur head of Yamunanagar with Nalvi Feeder in Shahabad via Ambala. Its aim was to recharge groundwater level and put a dedicated irrigation facility in place for Kharif crops.

In May 2016, the Punjab and Haryana high court ordered the award of compensation at ₹1.16 crore per acre. The BJP government, however, decided to de-notify the project in September 2017 and issued this notification in August 2018.

Irrigation department data shows that the government acquired 830 acre of land post-2004. In the first circle of Yamunanagar, of 799 farmers, only six paid back the compensation of ₹3.5 lakh, 300 of 2,000 paid back ₹4.3 crore in the second circle (Saraswati and Shahabad together) of Kurukshetra. In the third circle of Ambala, 50 of 1,035 farmers got back ownership of land by paying ₹43.2 lakh.

DON’T HAVE MONEY TO PAY BACK: FARMERS

Several farmers HT spoke to in Yamunanagar and Ambala are unwilling to pay back the money. Rajpal from Subhri village of Ambala’s Barara said, “I have invested the money on my family and don’t have anything to pay back. We hope water will flow in the canal soon.” He is a member of the Dadupur-Nalvi Sangharsh Samiti that had protested for months at the Jagadhari grain market.

Ramesh Sangwan, one of the owners of 3 acre in the scheme in village Adhoya in Ambala, said that he and his two brothers got their land back this year by returning the money.

Soon after the project was cancelled, opposition leaders in the Congress and INLD had staged protests and farm unions had criticised the move. Congress MLA from Mullana Varun Chaudhary said the land government is giving back is unfit for farming.

“When farmers asked for compensation, the government de-notified the scheme. This is an example of how the executive mocks at judiciary,” he claimed.