Fresh promises fail to move farmers

Desperate to find a solution to the ongoing land crisis in Noida, the authority on Thursday said it had identified 100 hectares of land for allotment of developed plots among agitating farmers.

Desperate to find a solution to the ongoing land crisis in Noida, the authority on Thursday said it had identified 100 hectares of land for allotment of developed plots among agitating farmers. The authority, which has already promised to solve all abadi land disputes, also announced it would spend Rs 200 crore for development of villages.

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But these assurances failed to make farmers withdraw their stir. Farmers of dozens of villages in Noida have been agitating since July 21, threatening to stall real estate projects coming up in areas surrounding Sector 74 as well as along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, if their demands of increased compensation were not met.

As part of their ongoing "awareness drive" against land acquisition, farmers of several Noida villages on Thursday held a panchayat at Sadarpur (Sector 45) and asked real estate players, building residential towers among other projects along the highway, to stop construction by July 31, failing which farmers would resort to disruption and a total stalling of all construction activities.

“When the high court has given time for the government and farmers to work out a settlement by August 12, there should not be any construction activity at project sites on moral grounds,” Kisan Sangharsh Samiti spokesperson Mahesh Awana said.