Mangalore:
In the times of Special Economic Zones (SEZ), land acquisition is a sensitive issue. Caught in the larger scheme of industrial development are farmers who do not wish to give up their land, no matter what the compensation. In Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district, Mangaloreans turned out to rally with one such farmer who lost a prolonged battle against the system.
Fifteen acres of land is all that farmer Gregory Patrao had, and had been fighting to keep, for the past 26 years. But last week, he lost not merely his land, but his 150-year-old ancestral house as well, to bulldozers of a company waiting to claim it: Mangalore-based MRPL.
"About 150 police came with many goondas and demolished my house. They had no court order. When I asked the tahsildar where it was, he said 'I will give it later'," says Patrao.
After the court case against MRPL acquisition in 1984, Gregory went to court again in 2006. This time against the Mangalore Special Economic Zone. In 2008, Gregory had told NDTV why farmers like him across the country resist giving up their precious lands to SEZ.
"They are giving us Rs 8 lakhs per acre and then they go ahead and sell it at Rs 50 lakhs per acre. This is nothing but land mafia. This is not Mangalore Special Economic Zone, it should be called Mangalore Selling Economic Zone," Gregory had said in 2008.
After fighting for 26 years, Gregory lost the court case. And thereby, all his rights over his own land.
Activist Vidya Dinker says, "Right now, there is no house on their head, nothing, not even a spare set of clothes to wear. All of us are so so upset that the state can act in this manner."
The state says it was within its rights to take over Gregory's land.
Ponnuraj, Deputy Commissioner, Dakshina Kannada district says, "This land was not acquired for SEZ, this land was acquired for MRPL under the KIADB Act where compulsory land acquisition clause is applicable. We are only the enforcers."
MRPL could not be reached for comment.
Going by the book, the administration might be right. But at the other end of the law is a helpless farmer who worked hard on his ancestral land, only to have it taken over in the name of development.
Fifteen acres of land is all that farmer Gregory Patrao had, and had been fighting to keep, for the past 26 years. But last week, he lost not merely his land, but his 150-year-old ancestral house as well, to bulldozers of a company waiting to claim it: Mangalore-based MRPL.
"About 150 police came with many goondas and demolished my house. They had no court order. When I asked the tahsildar where it was, he said 'I will give it later'," says Patrao.
After the court case against MRPL acquisition in 1984, Gregory went to court again in 2006. This time against the Mangalore Special Economic Zone. In 2008, Gregory had told NDTV why farmers like him across the country resist giving up their precious lands to SEZ.
"They are giving us Rs 8 lakhs per acre and then they go ahead and sell it at Rs 50 lakhs per acre. This is nothing but land mafia. This is not Mangalore Special Economic Zone, it should be called Mangalore Selling Economic Zone," Gregory had said in 2008.
After fighting for 26 years, Gregory lost the court case. And thereby, all his rights over his own land.
Activist Vidya Dinker says, "Right now, there is no house on their head, nothing, not even a spare set of clothes to wear. All of us are so so upset that the state can act in this manner."
The state says it was within its rights to take over Gregory's land.
Ponnuraj, Deputy Commissioner, Dakshina Kannada district says, "This land was not acquired for SEZ, this land was acquired for MRPL under the KIADB Act where compulsory land acquisition clause is applicable. We are only the enforcers."
MRPL could not be reached for comment.
Going by the book, the administration might be right. But at the other end of the law is a helpless farmer who worked hard on his ancestral land, only to have it taken over in the name of development.
