The meeting held to fix a price for the land notified for Hassan airport ended without a decision here on Tuesday, as farmers opposed the price quoted by officers of the district administration.
The farmers demanded ₹ 2 crore per acre, while the officers offered a maximum of ₹ 32 lakh per acre. A similar meeting was held on Monday, but it was adjourned due to the differences over the price issue. The meeting failed to arrive at a consensus on the second day too.
The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board needs 189 acres, besides 499 acres already acquired for the airport, spread over five villages in Hassan taluk. Additional Deputy Commissioner B.R. Poornima, who chaired the meeting, said the government was ready to offer ₹ 32 lakh per acre of land in Boovanahalli and the land located at Lakshmi Sagar, Tendehalli, G.Mylanahalli and Dyavalapura would get ₹ 28 lakh per acre. Land Acquisition Officer Arul Kumar appealed to the people to cooperate with the government to take up the project. He also termed the allegations that the government would sell the land acquired from the farmers to private companies as baseless.
Insufficient
The landowners opposed the rate offered by the government. B.V. Karigowda, a former legislator, said the price offered was insufficient even to purchase sites in S.M.Krishna Layout, recently developed by Hassan Urban Development Authority. Alim, a farmer of Tendehalli, said he was ready to purchase land at the rate of ₹ 28 lakh per acre. “Will you give me your land for the rate you offered”, he asked.
Poornima, ADC, concluded the meeting stating that she would report farmers’ opinions to the senior officers.
