Hubballi: After a face-off with party MLA, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Congress leader Laxmi Hebbalkar has now locked horns with his brother and minister, Satish Jarkiholi over the establishment of a sewage treatment plant (STP) in Halaga village, a part the Belagavi rural constituency she represents in the state assembly.
The Belagavi City Municipal Corporation has planned to set up the STP on 17 acres of farmland in Halaga village and Ms Hebbalkar has taken up the cause of the farmers, whose land is being acquired for the plant, contending that the people of the village have already parted with their land for the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha.
While around 20 farmers have approached the court against the land acquisition, on Tuesday several more held a protest before the Suvarna Vidhan Soudha, demanding return of their farmland.
As part of their protest, the farmers tried to barge into Suvarna Vidhana Soudha with their cows and cooked in its grounds to oppose the land acquisition. They wondered why their land was being targeted when farmlands of Union minister, Suresh Angadi, and MLA Abhay Patil were not being acquired.
Meanwhile, the meeting convened by minister Satish Jarkiholi to find a solution to the dispute ended in a confrontation between the politicians and farmers, who threatened to commit suicide if their fertile land was acquired. Criticising Ms Laxmi Hebbalkar for supporting the agitating farmers, Mr Satish Jarkiholi promised to provide compensation of Rs 30 lakh per acre instead of the Rs 3 lakh given already.
He said Ms Hebbalkar, being a part of the government, should be pacifying the farmers instead of joining hands with them.
