If the algorithms serve you well, then the reels, videos and news of the recent demolition drive in the Dalmandi area of Varanasi might have reached you already. But like all algorithms, it might have also disappeared by now with newer “trends” or tragedies. Like our fickle attention span, the news cycle also moves on. But it takes generations to build a roof on our heads, and the loss of it tends to stay on much longer in the lives of those affected.
The Dalmandi demolition is a result of the attempt to widen the road, which will connect Chowk to Dalmandi. In the form of protest, an owner of a building in Dalmandi set his property on fire when the authorities came to demolish it. These extreme steps are an expression of the helplessness of the victims. These are glimpses of the ongoing injustice by the local authorities, which are not working on the lines of the rule of law. Despite the clear directives from the Allahabad High Court that prohibited demolition or dispossession because the authorities violated the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. This has not been limited to just Dalmandi, but a similar violation of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, 2013, is happening across Uttar Pradesh in both the state and central government’s ‘dream’ infrastructure projects. In all these dreamy and glossy makeovers of a region, the rejection of local communities is occurring with the same story, which is: No Consent and Unfair Compensation for people’s own property.
While urban demolitions like the ones in Manikarnika Ghat or Dalmandi tend to stay on our screens at least for a few days, what unfolds in the hinterland hardly ever reaches us. In Varanasi, the forced acquisition is not limited to urban areas, as rural Varanasi too is facing an attack on agricultural lands for residential townships, an international stadium, or road projects. Near Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Babatpur, 10 villages in Pindra Tehsil are set to be acquired for the township project ‘Kashi Dwar’. More than 800 acres of land will be acquired to accommodate the city’s growing population in this high-tech colony. However, the people residing in these villages for centuries are against this township. Their protest is against any acquisition of land and the poor compensation that is being offered to them for their land. The major resistance is against any acquisition of land, as it is the only source of livelihood in the form of farming for thousands of families.
Farmer leader and social activist Yogiraj Patel from Varanasi’s Rajatalab area is leading a protest against the land acquisition for a proposed sports city project near the under construction international cricket stadium. According to Yogiraj, the development projects in Varanasi have no place for the people of Varanasi, especially the farmers of this district. “The city’s expansion to rural parts will also impact agriculture drastically as these are agriculturally productive lands and vegetable farming, which is one of the high yield produce by being close to the Ganga river, will face a huge setback,” Yogiraj says. Being a leading voice of the protest of farmers against the land acquisition, Yogiraj is facing the wrath of the administration. The Varanasi Development Authority (VDA) is threatening to bulldoze Yogiraj’s residence in his village by citing it as illegal construction. Yogiraj informed that the acquisition by the VDA is baseless as he has all documents of his house proving it legal on all grounds. But under Yogi Adityanath’s regime, the bulldozer doesn’t see papers. This is yet another proof of how the Uttar Pradesh Government has continued to violate the Supreme Court’s order that restricted demolition by government authorities. Raising voices against the violation of laws and demanding justice has now been considered a criminal act. The bulldozer, introduced as a tool for immediate justice, has now moved its claw towards people who are standing against the writ of so-called “development”.
Similar resistance from farmers has been witnessed recently in Kanpur Nagar district’s Ghatampur Tehsil, where agricultural land in 31 villages is to be acquired for the Green field Highway. The proposed highway is being built by the National Highway Authority Association (NHAI). The farmers here are protesting against the poor compensation set at the government circle rate that the NHAI and local administration are planning to give as compensation to the farmers whose lands are going to be acquired. The Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Ghatampur, organised a protest on 10th February 2026, at the Ghatampur Tehsil and submitted a memorandum demanding justifiable compensation and implementation of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, while acquiring lands for Highway construction. According to farmer leader Praveen Yadav from Ghatampur, “We welcome the construction of the Green Field Highway project that will ease the traffic and divert heavy vehicles from Ghatampur but we cannot give away our productive land at such low rates, this is injustice to us”. “The compensation based on government circle rate is very low as compared to the ongoing market rate and we will be unable to purchase the same size of land,” Praveen says. This is a violation of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, as Section 26 of the law states that while determining the compensation value of the land, if the market value of the land is higher than the government circle rate, the compensation should be determined based on the market value. Along with this, Sections 21 and 23 of the law state that the landowner can demand compensation at the market value, and it is the responsibility of the local administration to assess the market value of the land and determine the compensation amount accordingly, at four times the value.
After this protest demonstration, Praveen Yadav received a threatening phone call from the NHAI project manager, who said, “Tumhe Jail me daalkar Tumhaari Netagiri nikaal denge, tum logon ko bhadka rahe ho” (I will put you in jail and take out your politics, you are misleading people). Similar threats and intimidations were given to a local journalist who reported on the issue and was told by the NHAI officials not to report on this acquisition. Like Yogiraj Patel and Praveen Yadav, farmer leader Rajeev Yadav and Virendra Yadav from Azamgarh faced similar threats and were targeted for protesting against illegal land acquisitions.
From Varanasi to Kanpur, people are demanding that the authorities acquire land according to the law. But demanding that authorities work according to the law is considered unlawful. The concerns of local communities against such infrastructural projects are coming to the surface now because, in the past, similar projects have drastically impacted people who gave up their lands. Azamgarh district is one such example where lands were acquired for the Purvanchal Expressway and in return, the compensation was very low based on the government circle rate. Not only poor compensation, but the most marginalised communities who used to have land titles (Sarkari Patta) were affected the most as they received no compensation for the land that was given by the government decades ago, where they were farming for generations, and many went into landlessness. According to farmer leader Rajeev Yadav from Azamgarh, “these are not land acquisitions but a loot of land where the state is looting from the people who have elected them”. “Today, the hardworking Indians are giving a higher proportion of tax but in return receiving a very low price for their productive land,” Rajeev says.
The infrastructural projects brought in the name of development continue to deny the local communities who are affected the most. The resistance against these injustices is getting suppressed by bulldozers or jail threats, only to hide the larger illegal act of capturing lands without following the law. Today, these infrastructural development projects have moved in the direction of farmlands. Taking no consent and giving poor compensation rates on farmlands that are being acquired shows a short-sighted approach by the government that is ignoring the value of agricultural productivity and livelihood identity that these lands provide to farming families.
Raj Shekhar is a researcher at the Centre for Financial Accountability. He is based in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth