HALLIGUDI (Gadag): Ideally speaking, Gurupadappa Kudagunti, 42, a farmer who along with his brothers owns 152 acres of land in their native village, must not be worried over his family’s future.However, they may be reduced to paupers within a month. Reason: their lands have been earmarked for acquisition for the Pohang Steel Company.Kudagunti’s is not an isolated case. The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) has issued second notices to 536 farmers of Halligudi village of Mundaragi taluk, Gadag district, to acquire land for the proposed POSCO steel plant.This family has lost its entire land to the POSCO project and no one in the family knows any other business.About 13 persons in the family were involved in agriculture.The government will give them Rs 5-10 crore as compensation, but they do not know what to do with it.Land loss has been synonymous with the Kudaguntis.In 1981, when the Karnataka Land Reforms Act was implemented, Gurupadappa’s father, Basavanneppa Kudagunti, who then owned 198 acres in Halligudi, lost 56 acres which was eventually handed over to the landless.His family has never divided the property since then; although his next generation lives independently, they cultivate together.The elder brother of the family Basavanneppa passed away in 2001 and others are Shankarappa, Adiveppa, Shivappaand Gurupadappa.Marithangevva Kudagunti, Gurupadappa’s mother, told Express: “Our ancestors had acquired the property after a lot of struggle”. She added: “Now, we are losing our valuable land to complete strangers.” She worries about the future of her grandsons. “Only land and not money would make our life,” she says, tears streaming down her eyes.Gurupadappa, the family’s youngest son, told Express that they were in a turmoil, as some other land owners are ready to give away land if the government fixes compensation at Rs 10 lakh per acre.“I do not know what the future holds in store for us. Only god knows what to do with the money that we will receive. We could not purchase land in other villages as we were unable to leave the village. Hence, we have not given consent for the acquisition.”
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