Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Dec 31: The residents of Newa hamlet of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district have demanded reconsideration of the decision of establishing NIT campus in the area.
The residents of the area said that the land that the government is proposing to transfer for establishment of NIT campus in Pulwama is home to fertile apple and almond orchards and snatching the same is a threat to their livelihoods and economic stability.
They said that around 5000 kanals of land belong to residents of at least eight villages and leaving them landless will be devastating for them.
“We have spent our day and night together for decades to prepare almond and apple orchards on which people are dependent on their livelihood,” said Ab Rashid Lone, a resident of Newa.
He said that this land supports the children’s education and their livelihood. If it is taken away, their future will be jeopardized.
Locals said that there are hundreds of people dependent on their livelihood on this land and instead of creating more empowerment opportunities; the government wants to snatch existing opportunities.
They demanded that the government must reconsider the project and protect the community’s economic rights.
They urged the government to identify alternative land for the NIT campus to avoid damaging their fertile agricultural lands.
Meanwhile, MLA Pulwama Waheed Ur Rehman Para on Tuesday urged PM Modi that the vital almond producing land must not be used for NIT campus and be shifted to Tral.
“Prime Minister @narendramodi Ji Newa Pulwama’s Kherwa land, a vital almond-producing area sustaining thousands of livelihoods, must not be used for the proposed NIT. We urge its relocation to Shal Dramun, Chetergam, Tral—6,000 kanals near a scenic hill, better suited for the project,” Waheed Para said in a post on ‘X’.
Earlier, MLA Pulwama Waheed-ur-Rehman Para took to X and wrote :“Pulwama welcomes the establishment of an NIT, but seizing 5000 kanals of land is unacceptable. Without fair compensation and guaranteed jobs for locals, this project will face strong resistance.”
PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter, Iltija Mufti, had voiced strong objections to the acquisition of 5000 kanals of land for the establishment of a new NIT campus in Pulwama.
In a post on X, she wrote, “Grabbing land in Kashmir under the ruse of ‘development’ in J&K continues unabated. Pray tell what’s the need to seize 5000 kanals of prime agricultural land in Pulwama to establish a NIT? If education was such a priority why have a lopsided reservation in the first place?”
Pertinently, the government initiated the process to transfer 4,834 kanals and 19 marlas of state land for the establishment of a new campus for the (NIT) at Newa.
The Deputy Commissioner Pulwama formed a team including Naib Tehsildars from Newa and Kakapora, as well as revenue staff such as Girdawars and Patwaris from Trich, Parigam, Patalbagh, Kangan, and Newa to expedite the process of handing over the land to the NIT authorities.
