Noida: State allows farmers to claim compensation for government land

To appease farmers who gave up land for the under construction Noida international airport in Jewar, Greater Noida, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to allow farmers to claim compensation for the government land that was being used by them for agricultural purposes since the past many decades.

The move came after the state government realised that at least 14 hectares of government land was being used by farmers for decades near Jewar.

Since the 14 hectares of land belonged to the government, even though it was being used by farmers, the government had not offered any compensation for the said land to farmers. But farmers protesting against this and stopped the boundary wall from being constructed around the airport site, thereby posing a hurdle in the development of the airport, which is slated to become operational by 2024-end, said officials.

The Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) officials said a 2km long stretch of the airport boundary wall was not being constructed due to farmers’ agitation. The incomplete boundary wall was hindering work at the site owing to safety and security concerns.

“On October 22, 2022, we urged chief minister Yogi Adityanath to offer land compensation as the move will benefit farmers, who were using this land since the past many decades for agricultural purposes. The CM accepted our demands on humanitarian grounds and took an immediate decision favouring farmers. But officials were not implementing the order since the past one year. We requested the CM again recently and he got the decision approved in the cabinet, benefiting farmers in the entire state in similar matters,” said Dhirendra Singh, Jewar MLA and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader.

The UP cabinet on August 1, 2023, passed a policy decision allowing all farmers to become eligible for compensation for government land under category of ”Shor (government land meant for natural water bodies and forest etc)” if the government acquires the same for public projects.

The NIAL and the Gautam Budh Nagar administration will now distribute the compensation and other benefits to all farmers, who were using the “Shor” land paving the way for the construction of the boundary wall.

“We will resume the remaining construction work of the boundary wall, which has remained stuck since the past one year,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer, NIAL

“We will distribute the land compensation to these farmers as per the new decision,” said Balram Singh, additional district magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar.