Fertile land row stalls Belagavi–Dharwad railway project

Belagavi: Farmers from several villages strongly opposed the acquisition of fertile agricultural land for the proposed Belagavi-Dharwad railway line at a meeting held in the city on Friday. Convened by the district administration and railway officials at Kumar Gandharva Rang Mandir, the meeting was attended by farmers from Iddalahond, Nagenahalli, KK Koppa, Garlganji, Nandihalli and Halagimardi, who are likely to be affected by the project. Villagers raised concerns over the loss of productive farmland and urged authorities to reconsider the alignment.The govt has been trying for the last eight years to acquire 1,436 acres for the 73-kilometre-long Belagavi-Dharwad new railway line. However, the process has remained incomplete. Nearly 90% of the required land falls in Belagavi district, while 10% lies in Dharwad district. Farmers have opposed the acquisition of fertile land from the outset. There are also allegations that the route was finalised without taking farmers into confidence, which has stalled the acquisition process.Farmers strongly criticised the government’s move, condemning the proposed takeover of fertile land. Special deputy commissioner Raghunandan, additional chief executive engineer of the railway department Shivakumar, special land acquisition officer Manjunath Dombar, the sub-registrar, and forest department officials attended the meeting.Three months ago, Belagavi DC Mohammad Roshan had stated that the land acquisition process was complete and only compensation remained pending. However, the process has since been delayed due to resistance from farmers. At Friday’s meeting, it became clear that large sections of farmers continue to oppose the acquisition. Meanwhile, there have also been allegations that some farmers are obstructing the process in pursuit of higher compensation.Farmers demanded that barren land be identified and acquired for the project instead of fertile fields. In 2019-20, the project cost was estimated at Rs 950 crore. It has now escalated to Rs 2,004 crore, significantly increasing the financial burden. They pointed out that thousands of crores have already been spent on double-tracking the Miraj-Londa route, and urged that public funds should not be wasted.Prasad Patil, Garlagunji gram panchayat member and farmer leader, said the affected villages have highly fertile lands that produce around one lakh tonnes of sugarcane annually. Officials assured farmers that their concerns would be conveyed to higher authorities and that efforts would be made to find a resolution.