Bidadi township project: What farmers told retired SC judge at public hearing

On the 500th day of farmers’ agitation against the Bidadi Township Project in Bengaluru South district, the protesters attended a public hearing with former Supreme Court judge V Gopala Gowda arguing that the advance notification of the project itself would be considered “void”.

The protesting farmers raised several concerns, ranging from loss of self-sufficiency to the loss of permanent sources of income that would follow if the acquisition were to go through. The public hearing was also open to farmers supporting the township project, but no one attended, despite setting up a small camp just 50 meters from the venue.

The unpleasant situation of farmers

Manjunath, a farmer from Kempashettidoddi, said he owns just 16 guntas of land and earns over ₹60,000 a month from it.

“When I get my land, I will get a very low amount, and because of the exorbitant rates, I can’t buy fresh land nearby. Where should I go to work?” he asked. He further emphasized that there are about 150 people in his village who do not own any land, and the impact on them would be unimaginable.

“Many people today are struggling to find work and unemployment is one of the biggest problems in the country. We are now self-sufficient. Where should we go if we give up our land?”Shambhavia farmer from Siddayyanadoddi

Commenting on this, Rajanna of Bairamangala Mattadabailu village said that about 2,000 people living in 26 villages do not own any land but earn their living through dairy farming and tenant farming.

The same issue was raised by several others who pointed out that this is why a social impact assessment is required and claimed that the Greater Bengaluru Development Authority (GBDA) was avoiding it.

Padmavati from Anchipura Colony said she raised her children by farming and helped them secure good jobs, but farming is all she knows and her identity is closely tied to it.

“Although my daughter secured an engineering vacancy at a top college, we sent her to study for a bachelor’s degree in agriculture, simply because of our love for the profession. How can they take this away from us?”SujathaAralalusandra

Nagaraju of Nanjegowdanadoddi alleged that farmers who are against the project are being threatened through indirect means. “Some farmers have been told their land is forest land just to create fear,” he said. In many cases, relatives are claiming shares in land that do not exist,” he said, stressing that the entire project has created division between them.

The notification is invalid

Mr. Gowda raised several questions regarding land acquisition and land conversion and said acquisitions cannot be done legally.

He noted that the villages notified for acquisition were still under the jurisdiction of the Ramanagara-Channapatna Development Authority and that the GBDA could not issue acquisition notifications under the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities Act, 1987 (KUDA).

Mr. Gowda also pointed out that the project scheme must first be formulated and get the consent of all the stakeholders (farmers), then a notification must be issued and widely publicized before it is incorporated in the final notification. He said that process was not followed.

“Even today, Bengaluru gets coconut water, ragi and vegetables from Bidadi. To pacify Bengaluru now, they need Bidadi again. Have they assessed the impact that destroying these villages will have on Bengaluru?”HM Venkateshfarmer

On the exclusion of social impact assessment from the acquisition process, Mr Gowda said that the exclusion of survey under Section 10(A) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR) is unconstitutional. “The provision of § 10(A) is a state amendment to the law, and it can only be invoked in urgent cases. What is the urgency of this project?” he asked.

He further argued that the land is still agricultural and has not been converted. According to Section 10 of the RFCTLARR Act 2013, food security must be considered before the conversion of agricultural land and such conversion must be a last resort.

He assured the farmers that he would stand with them and provide legal assistance if necessary.

Published – 24 Jul 2026 06:01 IST