The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday decided to scrap a township under Yamuna Expressway project at Tappal village near Aligarh in the face of an agitation by local farmers against acquisition of their land for the purpose.

“In the interest of the farmers, the state government has decided to cancel the proposed township project in Tappal, about 45 km from Aligarh, with immediate effect,” a state government spokesman said in a statement in Lucknow.
A notification to this effect had also been issued by Aligarh divisional commissioner Rajiv Agarwal. However, the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, spearheading the farmer’s agitation against the township project, has refused to call off the stir, alleging that the state government “is trying to mix-up and confuse the entire case”.
The proposal for acquiring land for interlinking roads in Tappal has also been scrapped, Mr Agarwal said.
He said provision has also been made for returning land to those farmers who do not wish to part with their holding for interlinking roads adjoining express highway.
Earlier in the day, UP Cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh told reporters in Lucknow, “It is the clear decision of the state government that if farmers of Tappal, about 45 km from Aligarh, do not want a township, then it will not be developed there.”
Chief minister Mayawati had made it clear that the government is against forced acquisition of land, he said.
Four persons, including a Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) commander, were killed during clashes between police and farmers over acquisition of nearly 500 hectare land for a township in Tappal on August 13 and 14. The farmers were demanding higher compensation, equivalent to the one given to peasants in Noida, against acquisition of their land for the development of the township. —PTI