One lakh acres of land given for township projects: Opposition

Bangalore, July 12 (UNI) Ever since the present JD(S)-BJP coalition government assumed power in Karnataka, it has notified over one lakh acres of farm land for various township projects in urban and rural districts, opposition leader in Karnataka Legislative Council H K Patil said in the House today.

Speaking on the preliminary submission over the adjournment motion issued to the Chair, seeking discussion on the issue of indiscriminate acquisition of farm land for townships projects by the state government, Mr Patil alleged that all norms were thrown while sanctioning the proposals.

Quoting the state government's decision to sanction over 1,000 acres of land to M/s Gandhi City for Advanced R and D Ltd, Mr Patil informed the House that the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB), a nodal agency to acquire land for the industries had already taken measures to handover the land for the applicant.

The Gandhi City company had acquired over 10,000 acres of land near Mumbai ostensibly for industries failed to keep its promise and sold it to Reliance.

When Mr patil brought this to the notice, both Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his Deputy B S Yediyurappa had denied it. To facilitate acquisition of 1,000 acres of land the KIADB had instructed Gandhi City authorities to pay a deposit of Rs 21 crore, he said.

Alleging that the state government had notified fertile land near Nandagudi village in the vicinity of Bangalore International Airport, he said the government agencies were forcing the inhabitants of the villages to part their land in favour of land developers.

Refuting the allegations made by the opposition the ruling party leaders said the present government had taken enough measures to protect the interests of the farmers who lose their land, within the guidelines issued by the Centre on the issue.

Aravinda Limbavali of BJP, V S Ugrappa and V R Sudarshan of Congress also spoke on the preliminary submission on the adjournment motion, which was rejected by Mukya Mantri Chandru who was in the chair. The issue could be taken for discussion under different rules tomorrow or Monday, he said.

UNI