Farmers clash with police in Punjab over compensation for land acquisition

Hundreds of farmers clashed with police personnel in Punjab’s Bathinda over compensation for the land acquired by the government under the Bharatmala project on Friday. The Bharatmala is a highway development project aimed at improving the efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country.
On Friday, the farmers gathered in Maisar Khana village of Bathinda under the leadership of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Upagraha, alleging that they were not paid the right amount of compensation as promised in lieu of the land acquired by the government for the mega infrastructure project.
A large group of farmers from Sangrur also broke down barricades and clashed with the police in Dunewala village, also in Bathinda. The farmers clashed with Bathinda police attacking them with canes. The police then resorted to firing tear gas shells to disperse the farmers.
Farmers were going in a large convoy to reoccupy the land acquired by Bathinda administration under Bharatmala project recently. This convoy was led by Joginder Singh Upagraha, President of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Ugraha.

“All the farmers of Bathinda, whose land was acquired for the project, have been paid compensation. None of these protesting farmers are from Bathinda. They have come here from other districts and are creating disturbance. We have given possession of the land to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as per law,” a senior police official said.
“If anyone who has any issues and is not satisfied with the compensation amount paid should approach the arbitration court and solve the matter. I would appeal to these people to not take the law in their hands,” he added.
Meanwhile, a district official present on the spot said that the land was acquired for the Amritsar-Jamnagar expressway under the Bharatmala Project and around 62.7 kilometres of the area falls within Bathinda administration limits.
“Out of Rs 731 crore earmarked for the land acquisition, Rs 693 crore has already been dispersed to the farmers. Today we came here to ensure possession of the land that we waited to acquire as the government was yet to pay them the second instalment,” the district official said.
On the other hand, farmer leaders claim that the price of land is higher at one place and lower at another place, and that the whole protest is against this disparity in amount that is to be paid.
The district official clarified that the disparity in the compensation amount is due to the location of the land. “The compensation amount for land in inner parts of villages is Rs 50 lakh, while Rs 70 lakh is to be paid for the land along the highway,” he said.
Around five to six police personnel and around dozens of farmers have been injured in the clashes. The injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital and are undergoing treatment.