Farmers in Dharwad Taluk Protest Land Acquisition for Dharwad–Belagavi Industrial Corridor

Farmers across several villages in Dharwad taluk, including Hosaval, Veerapur, Ramapur, and Heggeri, have been staging a relay protest opposing the proposed land acquisition for the Dharwad–Belagavi Industrial Corridor under the Suvarna Karnataka Industrial Corridor Project. The state government issued a preliminary notification proposing to acquire nearly 6,000 acres of land along the Dharwad–Belagavi belt for industrial development. However, local agriculturalists argue that the identified region contains some of the most fertile irrigated land in Dharwad district, yielding two crops annually including sugarcane, maize, green gram, cotton, soybean, and horticultural produce. The protest intensified after farmers discovered during record verification that nearly 270 acres cultivated by their families for generations had been reclassified as 'B Kharab' in official land records, effectively treating it as uncultivable government property. Farmer leaders Uday Kumar, Mohammad Ali, and Veerayya Chikmath highlighted that their families had been farming the land for generations, but recent revenue record updates omitted individual ownership names. Furthermore, while the government has reportedly fixed compensation at ₹45 lakh per acre, farmers contend that local market rates exceed ₹1 crore per acre. The protesting farmers have urged the district administration and state government to immediately withdraw the land acquisition proposal, correct the 'B Kharab' revenue entries, and safeguard agricultural livelihoods in Dharwad taluk.