Deve Gowda opposes land acquisition for Bidadi township project

Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has opposed the acquisition of agricultural land at Bidadi by the Greater Bengaluru Development Authority for developing a township.

“It is reported that the government has initiated the process of acquiring approximately 10,000 acres in several survey numbers across 24 villages in Bidadi hobli of Ramanagara district under the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency,” the former Prime Minister wrote in a letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. He pointed out that the State government had already acquired thousands of acres of agricultural land for establishing industrial zones, and being close to Bengaluru metropolitan region, the area has already seen establishment of several private industries.

Stating that the acquisition of vast tracts of land will affect the livelihood, Mr. Gowda added that the remaining agricultural land was essential for the livelihood of farmers who are dependent on it for dairy farming, sericulture, horticulture, and cultivation. “A majority of these farmers are marginal or small landholders from economically weaker backgrounds. Farmers have cultivated lakhs of trees and plants on their farmland, and acquiring such land for a township project would cause irreparable environmental damage. Many rural youth from farming households could end up being unemployed and destitute,” he said in the letter.