Chandrababu Naidu’s dream capital project hits a roadblock: farmers

By A SayeSekhar  

Representational image. AFP

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s ambitious plan of a grand capital city to match the best in the world has run into its first major trouble: land acquisition.

While experts still wonder whether the state government would be able to find the funds to finance the mega project, the brewing resistance from the farmers offers Naidu his first reality check.

Naidu has proposed land pooling to acquire land for the capital city while the farmers, especially those on the banks of Krishna reaping three crops a year, are against it. The former has announced sumptuous compensation for those willingly parting with their land and held out a threat to those reluctant. He has been telling people in public that the roughnecks would have to suffer, for the government might apply the Land Acquisition Act to ensure that the farmers parted with the land. The element of arm-twisting has the latter furious.

If the Land Acquisition Act was invoked, the farmers would, at the most, benefit to an extent of two and a half times of the registration value. Naidu himself said: "If the registration value per acre is Rs 6 lakh, the farmers may at best get Rs 20 lakh towards compensation." But, it would be a windfall for those participating in the land pooling process.

This oblique prompting of landlords by the government is tantamount to encouraging the jacking up of actual prices vis-a-vis the registration value of the lands. Why should the government remain deliberately blind to the spiraling of land prices, thereby according a tacit endorsement to the real estate frenzy instead of strengthening its own wallet (state exchequer), asks Urban Planning expert and professor in Centre for Economics and Social Studies Chigurupati Ramachandraiah.

The government intends to pool over 41,000-odd acres of private agricultural land in Guntur district south of the course of the River Krishna, while the total land available is 51,788 acres. The location was identified and the land pooling process commenced a couple of days ago. The total number of families inhabiting the 29 identified villages is 10,656.

People belonging to at least nine villages on the banks of the Krishna are vehemently opposed to parting with their land which are very fertile and yield three crops a year for them.

Farmers' leader Mallela Harendranath Chowdary, who is spearheading the agitation ever since the location of the new Capital City was announced, says that the government never has taken farmers into confidence. All decisions are autocratic and unilateral.

Chowdary says the lands in villages adjacent to the riverbank villages are called uplands which produce only a single crop. Thus, there is no issue with those farmers. The land value too has shot up to Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.50 crore an acre in the recent past, which is said to be showing a sign of decline, of late.

The villages on the riverbank like Rayapudi, Mandadam, Uddandrayunipalem, Borupalem, etc too are costing almost the same --around Rs. 1.50 crore.

However, a few villages like Undavalli, Penumaka, etc, which are at the mouth of the proposed Capital City region, command a price of Rs 8 crore to Rs 12 crore an acre in the market. With the government's move to create Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), these prices plummeted to Rs 1.50 crore range.

Professor Ramachandraiah said: "Chandrababu Naidu doesn't have clear vision. His vision would be of tall buildings and big roads to showcase that he replicated Singapore. Vision should be that even an MLA should be able to walk to the Assembly building. He would not have that kind of a vision. Laying of foundation for skyscrapers and tall buildings will be extremely difficult. For, most of those lands are arable and water is available at just 30 feet depth. The current location is also not accessible to people of far-off districts. I also do not know whether there was any large-scale acquisition anywhere like this."

"Why are you encouraging the low registered value and why are you letting the black-market to thrive? What kind of governance is this? To apply the Land Acquisition Act for acquisition, the government has to clearly state the purpose. How do they justify acquisition of 30,000 acres? He cannot make a generic statement," said Professor Ramachandraiah.

He sought to know as to how the government had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore firms without discussing the constitution of CRDA in the Assembly.

The state government promised 1,000 square yards of developed residential land and 300 sq. yards of developed commercial land to farmers with landholding on the riverbank and coming forth to participate in the land pooling.

In other areas, the compensation would be a 1,000-sq yard land, and 200 sq. yards of commercial space. The government came forth to offer 800 sq yards of developed residential land and 200 sq yards of commercial land.

Though the government adroitly announced the compensation package, including Rs 50,000 a year of lease per acre for fertile land, Rs 30,000 a year for wet lands, for 10 years, and the other modes of eking out living, including to impart entrepreneurial training for landlords, monthly pension of Rs 2,500 a family to farm labourers and others who are getting displaced and houses for those losing them in the new scheme of things, people's doubts remain unanswered.

The chief minister held out a veiled threat that the Land Acquisition Act would be applied against those who won't acquiesce their land. However, farmers opposed to part with the landholding formed into a Federation of Associations of Capital-affected Farmers. They want to come under one umbrella to fight their issue.

Former IAS officer and office-bearer of National Alliance of People's Movement (NAPM) MG Devasahayam, who visited Vijayawada and the villages encompassed in the proposed state capital, said that the government had taken the land pooling route, as the acquisition of multi-crop agricultural fields was banned by the new Act.

While Minister for Municipal Administration P Narayana said that the Master Plan would be prepared by the Singapore agencies with whom the state government entered into an MoU, the state government would soon announce the schedule of the preparation of the master plan.

Mallela Seshagiri Rao, president of the Federation of Associations of capital-affected Farmers, said that the land pooling or acquisition could not be taken up by the government without the conduct of social impact assessment.

Retired High Court Judge Justice Lakshmana Reddy, who met the farmers on Friday, felt that the government cannot acquire the lands by coercion. He said that the land pooling method was incorrect and the judicial system in India was very much alive.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly YS Jaganmohan Reddy assured the farmers that he would stand by them and tour those villages and ensure that injustice was not meted out to them. Even Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao, former Agriculture Minister in the erstwhile Chandrababu Naidu government, too opposed the land pooling.

The government's announcement that the standing crop was the lost crop in the area and that the lands would be taken soon after the harvest did not go well with the farmers.

Minister from Singapore Government Eswaran had already conducted an aerial survey of the place and the representatives engaged in the MoU too had conducted an aerial survey.

Against all odds, if the government can push through its global city plans, it will surely be a big achievement for Chandrababu Naidu.