Hyderabad, July 19 (IANS) Bahadurguda village near Hyderabad Airport in Shamshabad, Telangana, remained tense on Sunday as the authorities continued fencing 650 acres of land earmarked for a proposed high-speed train hub.
Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) removed the farmers’ hunger strike camp late Saturday night and continued fencing what it calls government land amid tight security.
Police have taken the village under their control and barred the entry of outsiders.
Protesting against the allocation of land for a bullet train hub, farmers on Saturday clashed with the police.
The farmers are demanding that the government provide them with alternative land or pay compensation at the market rate.
They claimed that although they do not possess ownership titles, they have been cultivating the land for years and depend on it for their livelihood.
However, Revenue Department officials say the land belongs to the government.
They had been staging protests on the land for the last eight days. On Saturday, they resisted the Revenue Department and HYDRAA personnel when they started fencing the land.
They raised slogans demanding justice and insisted they would not give up their land unless the government announced fair compensation.
The protesters allegedly pelted stones and chilli powder at police personnel. DCP Yogesh Goutham and two Sub-Inspectors reportedly sustained minor injuries.
Several protesters, including political activists, were detained.
Residents alleged that the power supply to the village was disconnected on Friday night and outsiders were prevented from entering. They also claimed school buses were stopped, forcing students to skip school and remain at home.
Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has extended support to the protesting farmers and opposed the government’s land acquisition.
BRS leader P. Karthik Reddy was stopped by police while on his way to the village and was taken into custody near his residence.
HYDRAA said in a statement that real estate developers had set their sights on 650 acres of land located south of the Shamshabad Airport runway in Bahaduraguda, primarily because it adjoins the Outer Ring Road (ORR).
It said the land worth crores of rupees was acquired from farmers for a few lakhs. It cited official records, which classify the 650 acres across Survey Numbers 25 and 26 as government land.
According to HYDRAA, a proposal for regularisation was submitted to the government, but the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) rejected it in 2006, citing a ban on land allocation in that area due to its status as a developed zone. Along with local villagers, several individuals were cultivating the land and maintaining farmhouses on the property.
The Centre recently announced high-speed rail corridors connecting Hyderabad with Pune, Chennai and Bengaluru.
The state government plans to build a bullet train hub near Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad.
–IANS
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