Acquisition made easy

New land acquisition bill won’t bring relief to tribals

Pay and take

A High Powered Committee set up by the Central government has suggested that allocation of natural resources should go to the highest bidder.

POSCO villages resist land acquisition by Odisha government

June 11 saw 2,000 residents of Dhinkia and Govindapur—including women and children—prostrating on the scorching 45ºC degree sand, as 800 policemen stood alert trying to enter the proposed POSCO sites to acquire forestland. The villagers were protesting the land acquisition for the POSCO plant which resumed on May 18, 2011, after a 10-month hiatus.

Bias is in the law

The violence in Bhatta-Parsaul villages is a reminder of smaller clashes in western Uttar Pradesh since 2007 over land acquisition. In August 2010, Tappal block in Aligarh saw similar protests, leading to a clash between farmers and the police. The compensation given to these farmers against land acquired for the Yamuna Expressway and a high-tech city was a fraction of the profits made by the private developer to whom the land was transferred. To placate the agitating farmers, the Uttar Pradesh government announced a new land acquisition and rehabilitation policy on September 3, 2010. It also promised to stop the construction of the township.

POSCO faces fresh litigation, protest

POSCO’S steel plant project in Odisha may get stalled again. As the state resumes acquiring land for the country’s largest foreign direct investment project—US $12 billion—it faces a fresh litigation and mounting protests. Communities refuse to part with forest in the mining area and river water for the South Korean giant.

Wars, speeches and land

On May 6, 2011 three employees of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation were held hostage by villagers from Bhatta and Parsual in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. They were protesting against the State government's acquisition of their land for the Yamuna Expressway project. This video shows you a quick montage of what happens in Greater Noida on days that tempers and temperatures run high.

Greater Noida's Land War

On May 6, 2011 three employees of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation were held hostage by villagers from Bhatta and Parsual in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. They were protesting against the State government's acquisition of their land for the Yamuna Expressway project. This video recounts the violent events that took place the day after, when police officers raided the two villages looking to release the employees.

Grasslands in Western Ghats diverted for resort construction

In Chikkamagalur district of Karnataka, a high-end resort is coming up in the pristine shola-grassland ecosystem of the Bababudan mountains. This 120 room, five-star luxury resort is being built by Brigade Group of builders in the little-known village of Arasinaguppe. The venture is in association with international hotel chains, The Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts and Angsana Resorts and Spa, Singapore. Fourteen hectares of prime habitat has been diverted for the construction. The argument–grasslands are not forest, and the land is not under protected status.

Brief history of the debate

Originally, the right to property was in the list of fundamental rights. It guaranteed to all citizens the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property. It assured that no person shall be deprived of his property except by the authority of law, and that compensation would be paid to a person whose property is taken for public purposes.  

Property is a right: SC

RIGHT to property is a Constitutional right. The Supreme Court said this on April 18 dismissing acquisition of land by the Uttar Pradesh government near Greater Noida. The judgement has stirred a long-standing debate over property—whether the State has the supreme rights or the individual owner.