The Hindu : Karnataka News : Fund crunch hits shifting of villages

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Saturday, Nov 07, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Fund crunch hits shifting of villages

T.V. Sivanandan

Government yet to release funds to district adminstrations to acquire land

78 villages in five districts have to be shifted completely
Officials spend all funds released under CRF

Left in the lurch: A file photo of residents of Hola Bellary in Sindhanur taluk in Raichur district putting up temporary roofs over their damaged houses till the village is shifted to a safe place.

GULBARGA: The rehabilitation and shifting of the flood-prone villages in the districts of Hyderabad Karnataka region has hit a roadblock with the government yet to release funds for the acquisition of the land and taking up construction of houses for the displaced families.

According to official information available with The Hindu,78 flood-prone villages are to be shifted completely and another 82 partially in Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal and Bellary districts. With authorities not completing the process of purchase of land required for shifting the villages, except for two villages each in Sindhanur taluk in Raichur district and two in Siruguppa taluk in Bellary district, no private agency, math or corporates have come forward to take up construction activities in the areas where the displaced families will be shifted.

Raichur district, which is one of the worst affected by the floods in the Krishna and its tributaries, tops the list with 37 villages identified to be shifted to safe places, followed by 15 in Bellary, 14 in Koppal and 12 in Gulbarga district. In the absence of suitable government lands to relocate these villages, the authorities have identified private lands in most of the cases for acquisition and are waiting for the release of funds to purchase them.

Raichur district requires 961 acres of land for relocating the villages, while only 26.28 acres of government land is available and the remaining land has to be acquired from private holders. The total amount required for this is Rs 35.7 crore, according to the rough estimate prepared by the district administration. For 27 other villages which are to be shifted partially, another Rs 24.32 crore is required for purchase of land.

In Gulbarga district, 157 acres of land is needed to shift 12 villages permanently. About 50 acres of government land is available. For the land to be purchased from private holders, the district administration has estimated the cost at Rs. 2.769 crore. The authorities need another 180.33 acres of land to shift another 37 villages partially. For this, 58 acres of government land is available and the rest has to be purchased from private holders at an estimated cost of Rs. 3.78 crore.

According to official sources, while 545 acres of land is required to shift 15 villages completely in Bellary district, only 45.81 acres of government land is available. The officials estimate that Rs. 16.09 crore is required to purchase the remaining 502.1 acres of private land. To shift five villages partially, only two acres of government land is available against the requirement of 95 acres. The cost to purchase land from private holders has been estimated at Rs. 98.38 lakh.

For shifting 15 villages permanently in Koppal district, the administration has estimated the cost of purchase of private lands at Rs 6.04 crore, and for partial shifting of seven villages, the cost of purchase of private lands has been put at Rs. 2.58 crore.

In Bidar district, five villages have to be shifted partially and the district administration has estimated the cost for purchasing private lands at Rs. 15.08 lakh.

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