Noida farmers say court order major victory

Delhi/NCR

Allahabad High Court’s decision on Tuesday to defer hearing farmers’ petitions seeking denotification of Noida Extension villages has revived hopes of reconciliation between farmers and Greater Noida Authority. However, as the court directed the Authority and the farmers to renegotiate the land deal till August 12, home buyers will have to keep their fingers crossed a few weeks longer.

While the jury is still out in the case, villagers across Greater Noida celebrated the court’s order as a vindication of their stand. “Although the hearings have been postponed, we have been given a chance to settle our grievances on our own terms now,” said Ajay Bhati, headman of Bisrakh village that is seeking return of the single largest land parcel in Noida Extension — around 608 hectares with 50,000 housing units planned on it.

In villages such as Itehda, Roja Yakubpur, Haibatpur and Ghanghola also, the mood was almost jubilant. “All these villages have been protesting ever since the acquisition process began. Almost 50% of the villagers have not claimed compensation even four years after their land was acquired,” said Narender Singh Bhati of Bisrakh.

“The compensation was meagre, our abadi(habitation) land was acquired as well, and the land use was changed from industrial to residential. When we complained in 2010, FIRs were registered against many of us and a dozen villagers, including me, had to court arrest for about 10 days,” said Narender, adding, “We have maintained since the beginning that we are not against development, and now finally we will get the Authority to hear out all our grievances as they will have to follow the Court’s directions,” he added.

Encouraged by Tuesday’s court order, the villagers now say they are confident that the “Authority will not be able to go back on its word this time.”

“The ongoing issue is not simply about compensation amounts, and I want to make it clear that farmers are not greedy. Our farmlands were taken away for setting up industries. Many then thought they would get jobs and other development benefits and took whatever meagre compensation was being given. But finally, the land was given away to private builders at much higher rates. We realised we were being cheated,” said Ajay Bhati.

“If the Authority now initiates a positive response and is willing to hear us out, we will negotiate with them,” said Dal Chand Tyagi of Roja Yakubpur village that is seeking denotification of 468 hectares, the second largest are after Bisrakh. Eleven developers already have housing projects coming up here.

In a clear U-turn from their earlier ‘anti-Authority’ stance, the villagers, since last week, have been claiming that they are willing to “renegotiate with the Authority against a suitable compensation package.” Yet to decide on the rate of compensation they want and the list of other rehabilitation benefits, the farmers are now busy scheduling a meeting to chalk out their negotiating conditions.

“A mahapanchayat will be organised soon and all the village heads will together work out a detailed demand list to negotiate with the state,” said Roop Chand, headman of Itehda village that is also among the petitioners. It is seeking denotification of around 300 hectares of land.

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