Agitated over proposed transfer of a big chunk of land located in the Nainisar area of Almora district to a unit of Jindal group for setting up a residential school the activists of Uttarakhand Parivartan Party and Nainisar Bachao Sangharsh Samiti staged a protest march towards to State secretariat on Tuesday. The protestors were arrested when they tried to force their way when the police prevented their march.
The activists expressed their anger for the transfer of 353 Nali land in Nainisar to Himanshu educational society (a educational wing of Jindal industries) by unfair and illegal means. They said that land has lush green pastures and numerous trees of burans and kafal which would be destroyed following the government’s action. The agitators demanded that a CBI probe should be ordered in the land deal. The activists said that criminal cases should be lodged against 350 people in the proposed transfer of land.
The speakers said that the Congress party is opposing the land bill at the centre and stalling the parliament on the issue but its government in Uttarakhand is gifting precious land to industrialists. They said that a van panchayat is still functioning in Nainisar and this particular piece of land was used for animal grazing and miscellaneous work of society and villagers for ages.
They pledged to protect their land which the state government is trying to take away from villagers and provide it to big conglomerates. It is learnt that the land is still registered for Panchayat and public use in the revenue record but work on the project of school has started.
The activists claimed that the land has been provided to the educational society without even caring for the approval of villagers and is being dispended with through illegal procedures.