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We won't sell even an inch of our land, say Haryana farmers

CHANDIGARH: “We have decided that we die instead of selling even an inch of our land,” said Hans Raj, leader of the farmers of Goorakhpur-Kumharia village of Haryana, after a meeting of the villagers on Sunday.

The agitating farmers have been camping for over 20 days outside the mini secretariat at Fatehabad town, over 300 km from here, to protest acquisition of over 1400 acres of their land by the government for a nuclear power plant there. “There is no price for a land that gives crops thrice a year for generations. The land is our ancestral home, our livelihood, our identity and there is no way that we sell our mother for some nuclear power plant,” stated Hans Raj.

The nuclear power plant being set up by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI) at Kumahria in Fatehabad district will cover an area of 1,400 acres. “People are agitated because government is ruining a fertile piece of land for creating a plant based on hazardous Uranium technology. Agriculture is failing in all parts of the country and here each acre is giving over 1.5 tonnes of wheat. Government should help the farmers by putting up a plant manufacturing manure, instead of taking their land,” Yashveer Arya from Aazadi Bachao Andolan said.

“There are discrepancies in the estimated cost of land but we are not comparing the market price, we are comparing the value of land as a grain producer and as a mere base for a power plant. There might be people whose land is not as fertile as ours; for a farmer it is not just a piece of land but his entire life. What are the farmers expected to do after giving up their land and what will the children do?” asked Mr Arya.

The land for the proposed plant has been surveyed and marked and the acquisition is yet to start but the farmers said that no one from the administration had approached them and they intended to continue to resent the land acquisition. The leaders claimed that their agitation was not about negotiating a ‘better deal'. “Whether the land is very fertile, less fertile or barren and irrespective of whether the rates are comparable to that of National Capital Region or not, we will not leave our land. No land owner can be forced out of his home and farm on the plea of creating a power plant,” said Shyam Sharma.

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We won't sell even an inch of our land, say Haryana farmers

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