Off the expressway - 'Got in return a land too far, less fertile'

kannauj: He is compensated but not content or secure. “My land is gone but what do I do with the money,“ says Rajesh Kumar, resident of Talgram tehsil in Kannauj, adding, “If you take away from a farmer his land, what good is the money?“ Like Rajesh, dozens of farmers in different villages spread across Kannauj have the same question.

Farm land in the fertile belt has gone into the making of the

Agra expressway

and many are facing problem buying new land that is equally fertile, instead of the patches they have bought with the compensation. “My field had fertile soil that enbaled all kinds of crops to flourish. Land with same quality is either not available, or expensive because of the expressway,“ says Balbir Singh, of

Faguha village

in Kannauj district, who sold 3 bighas.

“I bought another land but it is so far away from my home, I had to hire a labourer for Rs 1,500 a month to be at the land,“ says Rajesh, whose 1 bigha and 1 biswa land was acquired for Rs 5.5 lakh.

Gram pradhan of Musafirpur village

Shakuntala Devi

had to sell close to two bighas of her land. “How long can money sustain? Land is what a farmer needs for the family to thrive on,“ she said, adding, “I got Rs 3,39,000 for my land but now that I have to buy another land, not even one bigha is available for that much money because the market price has gone up,“ she explains.

For villagers in Chaukhata, the problem persists. Arun Kumar, whose 12 bighas land was acquired says, “In some part there is the highway coming up, while in other parts there is either a an airport or a new road being built, so where do I buy new land?“ His younger brother Amit adds, “Of around 70 villagers who sold land, only 15% could buy another, while the rest squandered the money on liquor.“ “My 6bighas of land was in the interior for which I have not got as much money as compared to the ones who had land on the main road. In relocation, there is either problem of soil or distance,“ said Sri Ganga Charan, from Rata Purwa village.