Hassan: Despite locals protesting against the clearance of a “compound wall” at the airport site in Hassan on Thursday, the encroachment on the acquired area was cleared under tight police supervision.
A few days ago, farmers and villagers had protested that the “encroachment” would not be cleared until proper compensation was paid to them, the land losers for the project.
MLA H.P. Swaroop Prakash, however, intervened and told the District Collector to conduct a joint survey of the land in dispute, but that was not possible, he was told.
Later, District Collector C. Sathyabhama said that the encroachment would be cleared by the KIADB, Mysore division.
She then instructed the police and various departments to provide adequate security for clearance of the encroachment.
However, villagers started protesting against the KIADB officials and the Hassan district administration by forcibly constructing a compound wall around the airport. They say they have lost land to the airport plan and are now being inconvenienced by the authorities over access to the lands and villages.
But the encroachment was swiftly cleared by the authorities despite the opposition.
About 300 policemen were deployed for the purpose and later, the airport compound work was also carried out.
“Due to the construction of the airport compound wall, we have to travel 7 km extra to reach our villages. We do not have a proper road now, and hence we have demanded that a separate road be built for our convenience,” they added.
On the boundary of the airport itself, a 9-meter wide, road was earlier promised to the villagers. About 5 acres of land was to be earmarked for the construction of a 5-km-long road, but it was not fulfilled. Farmers lamented that despite surrendering land for the airport project, their needs were not being factored in by the authorities.
“We need a connecting road to our villages, and hence we took it upon ourselves to build the compound and protect it too. If the government is going to clear this encroachment, we insist that an alternative road be provided to us to access our villages and lands,” they added.
They also demanded that a minimum of one member of the families of land losers be given a government job as a compensatory measure.
“Some farmers have not yet received compensation for lost land. We also want a stipend till such time full compensation fructifies. Our protests will continue until our demand is met. Otherwise, the farmers of these seven villages will join hands and organize a padayatra to Bengaluru for justice,” the farmers said.
SP Mohammed Sujitha, Hassan Sub-Divisional Officer Maruti, Tahsildar Shweta and senior police officers were present during the eviction drive.
