Farmers in UP threaten mass suicide if land acquired

After agitations by farmers of Bhatta Parsaul and Katesar in Uttar Pradesh, farmers of Sathwa, Sarnath and other villages are up in arms, threatening to commit mass suicide if their land is acquired.

Farmers of Sathwa, Hridaipur, Rajnahia and Ghuripur Sai, whose lands are to be acquired for building a sewage treatment plant have been on dharna under the banner of Kisan Sangharsh Samiti for the past 56 days.

"We are sitting here on dharna but there has been no response from the administration. We started our agitation on April 15 and now we have decided to commit mass suicide after June 30 by hanging from the mango trees at the dharna site," Yashoda Patel, President of Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Sathwa, said.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Sadar), Vivek, said the matter would be looked into.

Patel said the farmers wanted the land acquisition process to be scrapped as the farm lands are highly fertile and were also used for growing vegetables commercially. He said farmers of Katesar are also supporting them.

A notice was issued for acquisition of 42 hectare land to help Jal Nigam construct 120 MLD and 140 MLD capacity sewage treatment plants at Sathwa in April.

Bhatta Parsaul village near Greater Noida emerged as the epicentre of the agitation with farmers demanding higher compensation for their land acquired by the Mayawati government.