Land prices crash in Udham Singh Nagar
From R Suryamurthy
Tribune News Service

NANAKMATA (Udham Singh Nagar district), Aug 23 — Exodus has begun. With legislation for the creation of Uttaranchal on the anvil, Sikh farmers of this district have started selling their land and moving out.

Land prices have crashed. Rupees six lakh per acre a month ago, the price has come down to Rs one lakh per acre.

According to one estimate, 15 per cent of the local farmers has sold their land and moved out.

The Chief Whip of the Shiromani Akali Dal in the Lok Sabha, Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra, toured the district over the weekend. The move was an attempt to reassure the Sikh farmers, who felt lost after the SAD’s failure in convincing the BJP to exclude Udham Singh Nagar from the Uttaranchal Bill.

This was the first tour by a SAD leader to the district after the Bill proposing the creation of Uttaranchal state, including the areas of Udham Singh Nagar was tabled in Parliament on July 3.

Addressing a public meeting at the historic Nanakmata gurdwara, Mr Chandumajra termed the Bill in its present form as "unfortunate". He said that the Bill had to be passed by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly first before it was to come to Parliament for discussion. It is only then that the SAD can intervene in the discussion.

Mr Chandumajra was hopeful that the Bill in its present form would not be passed by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. However, his optimism was conditional; as he stated that if the Assembly did not respect the will of the people of this district, then the SAD would oppose it in Parliament.

If political parties in Parliament favour its passing in the present form, then the SAD would "not be a party to it", he said, adding that his party would then "reconsider its decision to be an alliance partner of the BJP."

The Lok Sabha member from Patiala also addressed meetings during his tour of the district from Nainital to Nanakmata. His speeches were an attempt to assuage the feelings of farmers, who have no choice but to look towards Akali leadership to bail them out of the present predicament.

"The battle has been lost, hope they don’t lose the war" was the fear expressed by many farmers of the district.

The farmers, who have several hundred acres of land, were confident that the SAD would prevail upon the BJP and succeed in excluding Udham Singh Nagar from the proposed Bill for Uttaranchal state.

The declining confidence level of the farmers of the district is most evident from the sharp drop in the farm land prices, which have crashed from Rs six lakh per acre to Rs one lakh per acre in the past one month alone.

Mr Devender Singh Virk, a local leader, said "we are caught in a catch 22 situation. If we sell our land and move out we will be ruined, if not, then too, we face an uncertain future."