Karandi people protest against land acquisition by SIDCO

Protestors discussing issue with Revenue officers at Samba on Friday.
Protestors discussing issue with Revenue officers at Samba on Friday.

Excelsior Correspondent
SAMBA, Dec 27: People of Karandi village of Rakh Amb Tali area of the district Samba protested against the Samba administration and SIDCO for the acquisition of agriculture land by the SIDCO for setting up of industry.
There was a demand of the people that the Samba administration and is going to acquire the cultivable land of the local people against their will, which has generated a lot of anger among the people. Local residents said that they will not give their cultivable land to SIDCO. People said that India is an agrarian country, but without taking the farmers into confidence, large factories are built on cultivable land, which makes the land around those factories barren.
So people will not donate their land come what may, the protestors said.
The local people demonstrated in Samb. Later the officers of Revenue Department also reached the spot with the police to convince the protestors but people refused to give land to SIDCO.
People said that some people have little land which they do not want to give to the SIDCO because they have kept the land to build a house and today the lands are touching the sky and it is not possible to construct a house after purchasing the land. People said that they have been cultivating the said land for many years.
Taking a dig at the SIDCO , the local people said that it acquires the cultivable land of the people, and the factory owners construct the buildings to get the subsidy on that land and after some time they abandon the factory. The factories in Samba, Kathua, where SIDCO has acquired land are now closed. But the Corporation has snatched the cultivable land from the farmers and kicked on their stomachs.