Farmers oppose IT park in village

HYDERABAD: The farmers of Gopannapalli village in Ranga Reddy district are up in arms against the state government''s proposal to acquire their agricultural lands for developing information technology (IT) park.
The farmers say that the government was resorting to "commercialisation and profiteering" under the pretext of IT development. "The government could have developed its 1,000 acre land between Nanakramguda and Gopannapalli villages for the IT park.Instead, it has set its eyes on our 450-acre agricultural land," Raju Naik, joint secretary of Gopannapalli Farmer''s Welfare Association told The Times of India.
Most of these lands belong to tribals. The government, Naik said, cannot exercise its power to acquire the land for the benefit of multi-national companies (MNCs) at the cost of poor tribals particularly when government land was available.
The government can even consider developing IT park at alternative sites adjacent to companies like Wipro, Infosys and Microsoft at Manikonda village. Developing IT park and related activities near these companies would make sense and lead to further expansion of IT industry. "The government should explain the rationale behind choosing a place which is 6 km away from already developed place," said Ramulu Naik, a farmer.
The government is acquiring lands in the name of developing golf courses and hardware parks. But, the companies which have been allotted lands are now trying to convert them into real estate, association vice-president Somla Naik said. "We fear Gopannapalli land acquisition would also go in the same manner," Naik added.
"Payment of compensation amount for the land acquired is not a substitute for the deprivation of land. The government should bear in mind that we all are dependent on agriculture," said P Gagabai, a farmer.
The farmers apprehend that the government would pay compensation based on registration value which would be peanuts, while the market value of the land per acre would be around Rs 1 crore. The aggrieved farmers have moved the High Court in this regard.