Minister of State for Narmada Valley Development lal Singh Arya has expressed surprise on turning down of the State Government’s offer of fertile land for land by Jal Satyagrahis. Arya said that this move of Jal Satyagrahis has put a question mark on their demand of land for land in submergence area.
Arya has urged Satyagrahis to come out of state of misconceptions and misdirection. They should become partners in Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s resolve for revolution in agriculture through irrigation. It is noteworthy that agricultural land was allotted to 213 Jal Satyagrahis earlier also which they had turned down citing various reasons.
Arya said that he had held detailed discussions with representatives of those opposing filling of Omkareshwar dam reservoir on April 23. At the meeting, representatives had said that the land allocated to them earlier was infertile and encroached. They said that they can call off agitation if allotted fertile arable land.
Arya said that considering this demand of affected people earnestly, fertile land in Narmada basin in Narsinghpur was offered to representatives of agitators on May 6. Narmada Valley Development Authority, NHDC and Narsinghpur district administration got the land surveyed through about one dozen officers.
Surprisingly, representatives of Jal Satyagrahis turned down offer of this fertile land. Good quality of the land can be gauged by the fact that its price ranges between Rs6 lakh to Rs12 lakh per hectare as per collector’s guideline. This act on the part of representatives of submergence affected gives the message that people raising this demand have been misguided through some impractical and impossible targets.