26/08/2010
Farmers take over Delhi, upset traffic
New Delhi: Courted by opposition parties, thousands of farmers from several states poured into the capital on Thursday to demand enhanced compensation for their lands being acquired for the Yamuna Expressway project in Uttar Pradesh.
Farmers raise slogans at a protest rally against the Yamuna expressway in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010.
While the flood waters of a swollen Yamuna has entered many parts of Delhi and the streets were flooded leading to massive traffic snarls, farmers from UP brought traffic to a standstill on Thursday. They were protesting over poor compensation given for acquiring land for the Yamuna Express highway.
Jantar Mantar, the usual venue of protests near Parliament House, and the vast Ram Lila Ground, where the buses that ferried the thousands of farmers were parked, were packed with protesters who had come from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and other states. This led to the inevitable traffic trouble with jams reported from areas around Connaught Place.
"We will not stop protesting till our demands are met," declared Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh to loud applause from the protesters who rose in support.
He added that the government should ensure that farmers were not cheated of their lands.
A farmer, center, carries a hookah, or hubble-bubble, at a protest rally against the Yamuna expressway in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Arun Jaitley said both the central and the state governments were responsible for the situation in Aligarh in western Uttar Pradesh that had resulted in the killing of two farmers recently.
The farmers' agitation in the Mathura and Aligarh districts has become an issue of political oneupmanship with the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) blaming the central government for what it calls archaic land acquisition laws. The Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Samajwadi Party and other parties in turn blame the BSP for mishandling the farmers' agitation for higher compensation amounts.
Farmers intensified their stir after two protesters were killed in police firing in Aligarh district Aug 14.
Demanding the prosecution of the policemen involved in the shooting of the two farmers, Brinda Karat, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader, said: "The authorities should prosecute the policemen involved in the killing of two farmers."
Stressing that India could not afford to ignore its farmers, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav said: "New India needs to be created from the land of farmers. It's high time the government stops ignoring them."
Attacking BSP chief Mayawati, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan said: "Mayawati can spend crores of rupees on making statues of Kanshi Ram and herself. So why not compensate the farmers?"Most farmers are reluctant to strike any deal with the Government over their lands.Said an angry Bhagat Pal from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh: "We want our land back, no questions asked. We won't settle for anything else. The deal is twisted in such a way that we won't have our lands or enough money to support ourselves for even a year."
A farmer looks while attending a protest rally against the Yamuna expressway with other farmers in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010.
Om Pal Singh from Meerut added that the compensation money should be not less than Rs.30 lakh for an acre. "It is in the high yielding, flourishing basin of the Yamuna. If we move out, we won't find such a land anywhere and that is a loss with which we'll have to live with."
Farmers in Uttar Pradesh have been agitating for higher compensation for their lands acquired for the Yamuna Expressway, which is expected to bring the driving time between New Delhi and Agra -- a distance of 203 km -- down to about 90 minutes.
The expressway will pass through Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), Aligarh, Mahamaya Nagar (Hathras) and Mathura districts, and involves acquisition of land in 115 villages.
A total of 2,500 hectares is to be acquired for the development of the expressway -- 500 hectares each in Noida, Aligarh and Agra and 1,000 hectares in Gautam Buddha Nagar.
Farmers and villagers charge a policeman during an agitation on Tuesday demanding a better deal for their land acquired by the Uttar Pradesh government for the Yamuna Expressway project. PTI
Meanwhile, lakhs of people across several states in north India, including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar, were affected as floodwaters entered homes and inundated vast swathes of agricultural land following incessant rain.
Major rivers like the Ganga, Yamuna and Satluj were in spate, threatening to overflow their banks and prompting authorities in various states to issue an alert.
Many areas in the Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar belt were threatened as river waters rose alarmingly and officials rushed in to evacuate people most at danger.
In Uttar Pradesh, at least seven eastern districts were affected as water levels rose in the Ganga, Yamuna, Ghaghra, Saryu and Rapti rivers. Lakhs of people in Ballia, Bahraich, Maharajganj, Lakhimpur Kheri, Gonda, Barabanki and Faizabad were hit and many had to be evacuated.
Vehicles ply on a flooded street near Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, a venue for 2010 Commonwealth Games, after heavy rains in New Delhi
Thousands of hectares of agricultural land were flooded, officials in Lucknow said, adding that the PAC (provincial armed constabulary) was being pressed into service.
"The government has ordered necessary steps to be taken for evacuation of flood affected population to safer areas," said an official, adding that Chief Minister Mayawati had issued a warning that no laxity on the part of any official dealing with the flood situation would be tolerated.
In Bihar, floodwaters entered over 200 villages and threatened to inundate many others. The most vulnerable areas were Bettiah, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga districts.
Besides, dozens of villages in Bagaha district were inundated after embankments were breached at several places and water levels rose in all the major rivers following heavy rains in the state and the catchment areas of Nepal.
A bus plies on a flooded road after heavy rains in New Delhi
"All the rivers are in full spate following heavy rains. Some rivers may cross the red mark late Wednesday or Thursday," an official said.
"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed officials to remain extra vigilant as the eastern afflux bund, which breached at Kushaha in 2008, is again under pressure due to heavy discharge in Kosi," an official in the Chief Minister's Office here told IANS.
Two men push an autorickshaw on a flooded street after heavy rains in New Delhi
In 2008, more than three million people were rendered homeless in Bihar when the Kosi river breached its bank upstream in Nepal and changed course. It was said to be the worst flood in Bihar in 50 years.
The situation was similar in Punjab, where many towns and villages in low lying districts were on alert as the water in the Satluj hovered close to the danger mark. At least 15 villages in Anandpur Sahib in Ropar district turned into a virtual sea, leading to thousands leaving their homes
Poultry vendors push their vehicle in waist-deep water after heavy rains at the Ring Road near Rajghat in New Delhi
The level at the Bhakra Dam was increasing by one ft a day - the water level can reach the maximum height of 1,680 feet in Bhakra Dam. By Tuesday evening, it had touched 1,673.55 feet.
In neighbouring Haryana, a fresh breach emerged in the Yamuna in Karnal district, leading to the flooding of many acres of farmland.
Flood affected villagers move to safer places with their belongings after after Qilla River inundates their village in Bareilly
The Yamuna threatened the national capital as well as the city of the Taj Mahal, Agra. In Delhi, a key bridge over the Yamuna linking the capital with its populous eastern district was shut Wednesday as the river waters rose menacingly, causing huge traffic jams.
Authorities said the Yamuna was flowing above the danger mark for the fifth consecutive day, with officials warning that its level was expected to rise further.
The water level has touched 205.92 metres and could go up, an official of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department told IANS here.
People walk near trucks stranded on a water logged road after heavy rains in Gurgaon
The river had crossed the danger level of 204.8 metres late Friday.
The threat of floods also loomed large over Agra with authorities sounding a danger alert and advising people to move out as the water level was rising every hour.
"As the rain continues in Punjab and Haryana, we expect Yamuna to touch the danger mark," a Water Works official said.Water has entered fields in Bateshwar, in Vrindavan and parts of Mathura district.
Source: IANS, PTI
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