Farmers have denied to accept the compensation cheques offered by the NHAI for giving away their fertile land for the proposed bypass from Halaga to Machche villages to connect NH 4 with NH4A.
The farmers have already approached the High court opposing the acquisition of their land.
According to farmers NHAI has already changed name and encumbrance without the knowledge of the farmers.
The farmers said the NHAI is forcing them to accept the compensation. “We have not been informed and no notices were issued to us before transferring rights of our lands to NHAI. By doing so, the officials are trying to give an impression to the court that the farmers are ready to give away their land for a hefty compensation,” said Raju Marve of Sheti Bachav Samiti.
He said the officials have been approaching farmers and persuading them to accept the compensation. “How can they (officials) do this when the matter is before the court? We will bring it to the notice of the court,” he said.
The NHAI is constructing the by-pass to avoid vehicles particularly heavy vehicles going towards Goa from passing through the city.
Life of a farmer is already miserable. A better mechanism is instead of a one-time compensation, a toll is paid by users and a percentage of the money keeps flowing to them in perpetuity.