To be spread over 9,000 acres, the project aims to follow the theme “Work, live, play” with technology as its core.
Kindly note that this illustration has been posted for representational purpose only. Photograph: kind courtesy, Canva
Key Points
- To be spread over 9,000 acres, the project aims to follow the theme “Work, live, play” with technology as its core.
- At the centre of it are, however, thousands of farmers who are protesting against land acquisition by the government.
- The government, meanwhile, has offered compensation of as much as Rs 2 crore for 1-acre or 50 per cent of the developed residential land.
- Villagers say that even though about 20 per cent of the farmers have agreed to take compensation, it does not reflect the larger view.
- According to the details of the project, a central business district will be designed with a future-ready infrastructure and a walk-to-work eco system.
- The project commits robotics and automation for logistics, AI-powered governance, and IoT sensor networks for real-time monitoring of water, energy and traffic, among other things.
About 45 km from the tech hub of Bengaluru, the Karnataka government is planning a mega artificial intelligence (AI)-powered city with a budget of more than Rs 18,000 crore.
To be spread over 9,000 acres, the project aims to follow the theme “Work, live, play” with technology as its core.
Why are farmers protesting
At the centre of it are, however, thousands of farmers who are protesting against land acquisition by the government.
“This is my ancestral land and my identity, and this is all that I have,” said V R Nagarjuna, a farmer in Byramangala.
As he walks through his farms, he refutes the government’s claim of the land being infertile and loss-making.
“There are over 300,000 trees here and they are a source of income for more than 5,000 farmer families. It is wet land.”
The road that leads to the village has pandals for farmers who have been travelling in trucks from farther villages to join the protest.
“We are here because we saw similar acquisition attempts in our village.
“We had lodged a strong protest and the proposal was taken back,” said a teacher from Kuruvalli village, Ballary district.
Govt offers compensation
Recently, the government started issuing compensation after sending final notification for acquiring 500 acres in three villages.
It floated a Rs 26 crore tender to hire a consultant to prepare the masterplan for the AI city.
This has intensified the protests, which started almost 470 days ago.
“Five days ago, we had to block the entire road to gather the attention of the authorities, even if it’s of the Opposition party,” said Raja Prabhu, another farmer.
The plan involves acquiring land in two gram panchayats, which include 26 villages. Nine of them are revenue villages.
The government, meanwhile, has offered compensation of as much as Rs 2 crore for 1-acre or 50 per cent of the developed residential land.
“Our fight is not for compensation.
“It is for our land, which gives us enough money to sustain ourselves and a peaceful healthy environment to live in,” said Prabhu.
Villagers say that even though about 20 per cent of the farmers have agreed to take compensation, it does not reflect the larger view.
“There have been converts. Some are party supporters, some are convinced with the offer, but most of them are the ones who own larger pieces of land,” said Byrappa.
“They are being offered jobs of security guards or helpers in the new hub but it’s about having asset ownership, especially when it is not loss-making,” Byrappa added.
What an RTI says
According to an RTI (right to information) reply received by a farmer of South Bengaluru from the horticulture department, the nine revenue villages being acquired will lead to the felling of hundreds of thousands of trees.
The reply, first published by The Hindu, reveals that the area has 83,536 arecanut trees, 87,903 coconut trees, 12,550 mango trees, and 306,506 banana plants, in addition to 2,344 chikoo trees, about 2,500 rose plants.
The biggest impact will be on ragi cultivation, which is spread across 231 acres.
According to a mapping by the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, the city has lost 93 per cent of forest and lake cover since the 1970s.
Details of the project
According to the details of the project, a central business district will be designed with a future-ready infrastructure and a walk-to-work eco system.
The project commits robotics and automation for logistics, AI-powered governance, and IoT (internet of things) sensor networks for real-time monitoring of water, energy and traffic, among other things.
“When they think about planning, it is all urban at the cost of rural. There’s a huge mismatch,” said Vijay Nishant, a Bengaluru-based environmentalist at the protest.
