B’pora villagers revolt against authorities


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Pledge not to allow setting up of 330 MW power project
Mir Tariq Bandipora, May 2: Refusing to hand over land for construction of 330 Megawatt Kishan Ganga Hydro Electric Project-cum-dam (KGHEP) to NHPC, hundreds of villagers in this newly created districton Friday pledged not to allow the company to set up the project in Bandipora.
Deputy Commissioner has threatened that in case farmers refuse to hand over land to authorities, Section 14A will be imposed for forcible acquiring of land.The villagers of Kralpora, Lawaypora, Mantrigam, Sonarwani, Harteng in Bandipora district on Friday came out on roads and vowed to ‘fight’ against setting up of KGHEP in this North Kashmir district.They accused district administration of cheating them. “NHPC is plotting against the villagers, who will lose houses, orchards, and land during the construction of the project cum-dam,” they alleged.The villagers have formed an Anti Dam Villagers Forum (ADVF) to fight collectively against the setting up of the project.ADVF’s spokesperson, Muhammad Shafi Bhat told Rising Kashmir that 700 families of Kralpora, Lawaypora, Mantrigam, Chandaji, Chak and adjoining villages will be rendered landless by the project.Earlier, people had supported the project and helped the local administration in conducting the socio economic survey of the area. After government failed to provide compensation to most of the villagers, people had now decided to oppose the project. “We have changed our mind and decided to oppose the construction of dam, which is important part of the power project. The government failed to provide compensation to the people, who are to be affected by the setting up of the project,” said Bhat. NHPC’s 330 Megawatt power project will affect hundreds of families in various villages of Bandipora district. They, according to the survey, will lose fertile land of about 750-800 kanals. Although government announced Rs 1-2.50 lakh compensation for each kanal of land, people rejected the compensation amount saying it is too meager. “The government is playing with the livelihood of hundreds of families by paying meager compensation to them,” added Bhat.Refusing to accept any meager amount, the locals said, “Authorities are compelling us to accept their decisions but we will not be cowed down. We would intensify our agitation to prevent setting up of NHPC’s power project in the district. We will loose everything if dam is constructed for the project”.Stating that they don’t want confrontation with government, the locals said, “We met DC Bandipora and NHPC officials but they want to negotiate according to their own terms. They are not taking our concerns into consideration".A villager Abdul Jabber Rather said, "How can I compromise with the government? They are promising a job to one of my family members and will provide me few lakh rupees for 17 kanals of land".“I am solely and wholly dependent on the land and have four daughters. How will I get them married if government snatches the land from me,” he asserted.The affected families are demanding that government should give them compensation according to the market rate. “The market rate per kanal of land is Rs 9-15 lakhs. The government is giving us only Rs 1 lakh per kanal and this is grave injustice with us,” said the residents, adding, “We won’t hand our land to government on such a low prices”.One of the villager, Mohammad Shafi Bhat said, “If government forcibly snatches our land, we would file a case against them in Supreme Court and fight till end”."Our Kralpora village is losing all the land and government is not providing us with the adequate compensation. They (authorities) are inviting objections from us but are not considering them”, added Bhat.Talking to Rising Kashmir DC Bandipora Sheikh Mushtaq said, "KGHEP is funded by central government and it is not making any type of negotiation about land acquisition”. He, however, said, “Revenue department tried to negotiate with the people of affected villages but the effort proved useless. We are trying our best to provide genuine compensation to the affected farmers, who will lose their land. If farmers refuse to give their land for construction purpose, department will use section 14 A and will forcible acquire land".When contacted Chief Engineer NHPC Umer Khalid told Rising Kashmir that KGHEP is a big project, which needs around 700-800 kanal of land for construction purposes.Khalid said "NHPC has nothing to do with land acquisition. It is up to revenue department. Whatever rate they fix, the NHPC will pay to the farmers through the same department”.