Farmers refuse to part with land for golf course

Md A Basith / TNN / Mar 31, 2006, 00:57 IST

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Land owners have stopped the ground-levelling work and are refusing to give up the land for the project.

Farmers refuse to part with land for golf course

HYDERABAD: The process of land acquisition for phase-II of the much-touted golf course project at Quila Mohammed Nagar village of Golconda mandal has run into rough weather. Land owners have stopped the ground-levelling work and are refusing to give up the land for the project.
The land being acquired �� 120 acres �� is farm land where crops are grown.Its market price varies from Rs 4 to 5 crore per acre, assert land owners. But as the government has decided to give only Rs 80,000 per acre as compensation, land owners do not want to give up their portions.
The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation has completed phase-I of the project by using government land. The project is being executed by Emmar Properties, a Dubai-based consortium and the contention of the land owners is that it will only benefit the company, the tourism development corporation and all those involved in executing the project.
"All this is happening at the cost of our livelihood. We did not sell this land to even real estate developers who would have paid us crores of rupees just because we wanted to stick to agriculture," said Saleemuddin Khan, owner of a three-acre plot.

Some landowners cultivate paddy, others vegetable and some others utilise it for dairy activities. The government had identified 213 acres of land, including government-owned area, for the golf course.
Earlier, the government planned to use the land to develop a tourism spot and a birds sanctuary. But later it changed its plan. However, 52 acres had already been acquired where phase-I works were completed.
On Sunday, when the officials and politicians visited the spot for laying foundation stone for phase-II of the project, the landowners did not allow them to do so.

However, district collector Arvind Kumar convinced the land owners stating laying foundation stone was just a formality and the work would begin only after taking the owners into confidence.
"The land being acquired here is not for any development activity but for providing entertainment to some rich people. For this we cannot force people to sacrifice their plots which they have been protecting for years together," said Khairatabad MLA P Janardhan Reddy.
"The anger of the land owners is justified, the government should provide alternative land to settle the dispute," he said.
Meanwhile, the district collector constituted a committee for identification of alternative land to be provided to farmers. The collector is the chairman while Hyderabad MP, Karwan MLA and a representative of farmers are members of the committee. The committee will identify alternate land within six months.
The owners of the land told Arvind Kumar that they would hand over their land to the government only after they are given possession of the alternate land.

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