A day after farmers staged a protest against land acquisition on the outskirts of Belagavi, officers began work on the Halaga-Machche Bypass Road on Friday.
A group of farmers, however, continued to be on protest at a distance from the worksite.
A team of officers, including Deputy Commissioner M.G. Hiremath, Deputy Commissioner of Police Vikram Amathe and some engineers from the State Public Works Department and the National Highways Authority of India, visited the worksite.
Mr. Hiremath said that land acquisition was carried out as per the provisions of law. Over 800 farmers have received a compensation of ₹25 crore, in all. The State Government has also assured them of looking into their demands for higher compensation. “We are starting work as per the orders of the State Government,” he said.
He said that the district administration officers are trying to convince the farmers not to stage protest and are sharing all relevant data with them, to clarify their doubts. Some farmers have said that their holdings are small and that they will like a land-for-land deal and not money as compensation.
“We have communicated their demands to the State Government which will consider such demands,” he said.
NHAI officers denied the charge that the officers have deliberately erred to deprive some farmers of compensation or to drop out some influential farmers from the list of land losers. That there have been two surveys, one different from the other, is far from truth. There is no difference between the two surveys. There has been no injustice meted out to anyone, an NHAI officer said.
On Thursday, farmers strongly opposed the construction of the road saying that they suffered in the land acquisition process. While a farmer tried to immolate himself, the police had to take others into custody to clear the area.
