Mangalore: Forceful Eviction - KIADB Takes Over Patrao’s 6.9 Acres Land for MRPL
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Apr 29: After the state High Court dismissed a long-pending case filed by a local resident against the acquisition of his lands, the officials of Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) took into possession 6.9 acres of land located near Kalavar village under Bala gram panchayat from the concerned on Wednesday April 28, with police escort. Gregory Patrao had fought a dogged court battle against the KIADB’s initiative to acquire land belonging to him for the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), all these years.
The KIADB will now entrust the land to MRPL for its second phase of refinery expansion plan. The KIADB officials armed with the court order and accompanied by a police contingent, men and machines, arrived on the spot on Wednesday. After a notification for the land acquisition was issued in 1992, owner of the land, Gregory Patrao, had filed a case in the High Court, refusing to hand over his agricultural property to KIADB. Reportedly, the family members of Patrao requested for some time to shift their belongings including stock of areca nut, rice, livestock and other household goods. The house and other structures standing on the said land were demolished on Wednesday with the help of a backhoe.
Tahsildar of Mangalore taluk, Manjunath, said that KIADB had deposited Rs 1.56 crore being the compensation for the land acquired, in the civil court here, in December 2009. He added that the High Court had dismissed the case filed by Patrao on March 19, 2010 and that the family refused to accept the offer for alternative arrangement for relocating them at Permude village. He added that the efforts to convince the family in the morning to vacate the place did not yield any positive results and that the officials had no other option but to execute the court orders. Land acquisition officer of KIADB, Krishnamurty, told the reporters at the spot that out of 14 acres proposed to be acquired, the court has decided only about 6.9 acres of land and that the hearing in respect of the balance land is in the final stages.
Gregory Patrao, supported by NGO activist Vidya Dinakar and secretary of Agricultural Land Protection Committee, Lawrence D’Souza, demanded to rehabilitate him in Kalavar village itself. He also said that he is yet to receive a copy of the High Court order and that the demolition team had arrived without serving him any advance notice.
Panambur deputy superintendent of police, Girish, inspector, Valentine D’Souza, Suratkal station house officer, K U Belliappa, sub-inspectors, Ramesh, Anantapadmanabha, Pramod Kumar, revenue inspectors, Pushparaj Shetty, Diwakar Rai, Bala gram panchayat president, Lokesh Shetty etc., were present.
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