Ahead of the Prime Minister’s inauguration of the international airport project, there is an atmosphere of concern about compensation, jobs and security in the small town.
The un-described city of Jewar, 100 km from Delhi, is set to find a place on the world map as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will do on Thursday will lay the foundation stone of the international airport Which will be the largest in Asia and the fourth largest in the world. The first phase, built on 1,334 hectares of land, is expected to be completed by 2024, when a runway will become operational.
Read also | Priyanka Gandhi asked why farmers did not pay compensation for acquisition of Jewar airport land.
However, for Hansraj, a resident of Rohi village, the immediate concern is what he will do with his eight cows if he decides to settle in Jewar Bangar, a project being developed by the government for nearly 3,000 families in six villages. Hansraj, who owns one bigha of land in a township, whose land is acquired under the Land Acquisition Act, asked, “How will I keep them in a 50-square-metre plot, which I will get.” He is among nearly 500 of the 9,000 farmers who have not yet accepted the compensation deposited in the treasury by the government.
There are others like Pramod Kumar of Dayanatpur village who owns 20 bighas of land and feel that farmers were cheated by the government by changing land use from rural to urban to cut compensation. “The authorities have not properly followed the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. Being in rural area we are eligible for compensation four times the circle rate, but by changing the land use from rural to urban, the government has given us only twice the circle rate. Our petition is pending in the Allahabad High Court and we expect the PM to take note of our demand,” Mr. Kumar said.
They argued that they have been compensated at ₹ 2,300 per square meter while the circle rate at Pari Chowk in Greater Noida is ₹ 50,000 per square metre. “If we are declared urban, we should get the rates prevailing in neighboring urban areas. So we approached the court.”
Ravinder Kumar of Rohi agreed with Mr. Kumar but he has taken the compensation and the plot. “I have got ₹2.5 crore for 12 bighas of land. I am building a three-storey house in Basti, but I could have got more,” he said. Asked if he was being greedy as the circle rate was around 4-5 lakh per bigha before the project got the green signal, he said it was his right as he was being uprooted from his ancestral land and was forced to take up farming. Didn’t know anything other than that.
Neeraj Kumar of Rohera village has also chosen to wait. “There is societal pressure on the part of those who have opted for compensation, but now I have heard that the authorities are targeting those who had not accepted their offer earlier. They demand a cut in our money lying with the tribunal.”
A senior official associated with the acquisition process said that 70 per cent farmers’ permission is required under the Land Acquisition Act. “Initially, only 4 farmers agreed, but when the UP chief minister agreed to pay more than ₹500 per square meter rate (₹1,800), more than 72% agreed,” he reminds Allahabad High. Said happened. The court had earlier dismissed petitions seeking higher compensation.
Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh, who is known to have worked in the region, said the BJP is known for “initiating development” and on Wednesday the area would “celebrate the prime minister’s visit as a festival.”
“We have ensured complete transparency in paying compensation and ensuring rehabilitation and resettlement. Since the project is huge and is expected to be completed in record time, there might be some minor lapses or misunderstandings which we will soon work out with the authorities.
The government promises that the project will create one lakh jobs, but Kalyan Singh, secretary of SSDGD College in Jewar, said most have opted to take a one-time payment of ₹5,00,000 instead of waiting for the elusive job. “They don’t know what kind of jobs will come their way and what skills they have to do those jobs.” He said, the youth are raising amateur (craving) and aib (Bad Habits) Because they have made quick money.
Pankaj Parashar, Senior Hindi Journalist who holds Ph.D. On rehabilitation and resettlement associated with the project, he said the international airport would change the face of the region.
“Jewar was one of the most backward areas of the region. Till a few years back, there was no direct road from Noida to Jewar and people had to travel via Bulandshahr or Palwal to reach there. There was no electricity in one or two villages,” Mr Parashar said, adding that in a few years the entire NCR would inevitably turn into an urban landscape, so there was no point in losing farmland and farmland.
The development has reached the doorstep of the villages here, now it is up to the people how they use the compensation money. The airport has been in demand for so long that many thought it would not be completed in their lifetime. Now that it is, they are not being able to process the new reality.”
Pro-BJP pradhan Arvind Choudhary of Neemka village acknowledged there are constraints, but added that people will have to “sacrifice for change, for development.”
“The government cannot do everything. We know that now we have to buy wheat from the market but we hope that the life of our coming generation will be better. If even 1% of the cost of the project reaches us, our lives will change. When asked what work the villagers expected to get from the new project. Mr. Choudhary said, “Fitter, security guard, computer operator, property dealer…”
,