Hubli Airport: Evacuees protest against land acquisition

Dharwad: Residents of the areas to be acquired for expanding the Hubli airport took out a protest march on Friday in Dharwad and submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner.

The residents whose properties will be acquired alleged that the valuation of properties had not been done scientifically and the district administration was not sticking to its promise of fair compensation.

The residents demanded fixation of the compensation at the rate of Rs 1,800 per square foot. They said the present valuation did not match the market value and added that the evacuees needed to spend more on building plan, permission and other expenses.

They also suggested that the government should provide Hubli-Dharwad Urban Development Authority (HDUDA) sites to the evacuees free of cost if the government failed to pay compensation as per the market price. The residents also demanded the waiver of registration fees for the new buildings.

Deputy commissioner M S Srikar who received the memorandum said he would consider their demand and apprise the government of the situation.

The issue of infrastructure projects displacing denizens has been the bane for development in the country. This issue has afflicted the SEZ projects, the Bangalore Metro Rail, and various other projects.

Not even the Tatas faced similar problems in Singur in where they wanted to set up a plant for the Nano car.