Punjab farmers furious over land acquisition

Chandigarh, Jul 29: It seems that the land acquisition bee is making its path slowly and gradually in all the North Indian States. After Haryana, its Punjab now. The Farmers hailing from Punjab's Mansa district are protesting against "forcible"land acquisition for an upcoming thermal power project in the state.

Punjab government is acquiring 880 acres of land for setting up a 540 MW thermal power project, which is to be developed by private company Indiabulls under its new power purchase policy.

Nearly 400 farmers protesting against land acquisition have arrested in the last one week. "Farmers who own 171 acres of land in Gobindpura village do not want to part with land at any cost. They want to keep the land with themselves for their earnings. That is why we have not even accepted the compensation cheque offered by the state government," Kisan Sangharsh Samiti President, Satnam Singh said

"97 per cent of farmers have happily accepted the compensation of Rs 30 lakh per acre. It is only 2-3 families which are resisting the land acquisition process," Punjab, Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Badal said earlier this week.

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