HDK warns of ‘Singur model’ protest, urging govt to return excess land acquired for NICE

Kumaraswamy urges State govt. to return 11,000 acres of excess land acquired from farmers for BMIC project. He alleges land deals in benami names & land looted from farmers. He calls for Singur-like protest if govt. doesn't return excess land & supports farmers protesting against project. He also demands expressway to Mysuru.

Urging the State government to return 11,000 acres of excess land acquired from farmers for Bengaluru Mumbai Industrial Corridor (BMIC) project, former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday said that West Bengal’s “Singur model of protest” will be launched here. He also alleged that land deals have taken place in benami names and land that have been notified has been “looted from farmers.”

“There is no legal bar on the government to recover excess land. The cabinet approved 20,000 acres in 1997 as per the framework agreement, but 11,000 acres were acquired in excess. More land has been acquired near Bengaluru than required,” he said in his address at a round table conference on the land acquisition for BMICP, organised here by Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha. “Notices are being issued now by the KIADB for acquisition near Bengaluru. Land is being acquired outside the project area too,” he added.

Extending support to the farmers protesting against the project, he said, “The protest should be apolitical. If Government does not return the excess land, let us start protest on the lines of farmers protest in Singur. The Supreme Court has ordered return of land in case the project is not started.” He said that there was need for an expressway to Mysuru when the Centre has constructed a six-lane expressway to Mysuru.