On Thursday again when the NHAI came in with heavy earth moving machinery into the fertile lands near Angol for building the Halga Macche Bypass the farmers got protested again and removed all the machinery out of their fields.
The farmers said, no work order has been issued, no intimation or notices. The NHAI under police protection is acting like Gunda and acquiring our fertile lands.
The NHAI officials had to return back on Thursday as well after the intense protests.
According to sources, the total length of the road is 84 km (from Belagavi to Goa border). The proposed Halga-Macche bypass road of 12.5 km passes through fertile lands of farmers. It will pass through Halga, Belagavi, Old Belagavi, Vadgaon, Shahapur, Angol, Majgaon and Macche. In 2011, a notification in this regard to this matter was issued to the farmers in which as many as 135 acres of land was supposed to be acquired for the project. The farmers had opposed the work of bypass road during that time too. Later in January 2019, another notification of acquiring an extra 25 acres was served to the farmers. All the farmers immediately submitted their objections. But, before the required procedures could be completed, the NHAI officials commenced the work, which according to farmers is totally illegal.
The farmers questioned the police as well as the NHAI officials, asking them to show the work order copy. After the authorities failed to produce the work order copy, the agitators forced the police and NHAI officials to stop the work.
Several farmers will lose more than 70% of their land holdings which would leave them jobless.
Still, no compensation has been paid.