‘New Gorakhpur’ will be settled on the land of 24 villages! ‘Gurukul City’ will be built on the lines of Singapore, but the issue of compensation is stuck

Gorakhpur is no longer just a city but is moving towards a new future. A huge project named ‘New Gorakhpur’ is being started to give a modern and organized look to the city. Under this dream project, an entire township named ‘Gurukul City’ will be developed, which will change the face of Gorakhpur forever.

But there is also a big challenge in the way of this big dream – farmers’ opposition to land acquisition.

How will this ‘New Gorakhpur’ be?

The soul of this project is ‘Gurukul Township’. It will not be just a few buildings, but a small modern city, in which every facility will be available for the common people:

• Modern Housing: Group housing societies, plots, and EWS/LIG housing for the poor.
• Commercial Hub: Hotels, shopping malls and large retail stores.
• Education and Health: Big schools-colleges, training centers and hospitals.
• Other amenities: City civic centre, parks, lakes and wide roads.

Where will the ground come from and where is the screw stuck?

For this huge project, GIDA (Gorakhpur Industrial Development Authority) has identified the land of a total of 24 villages.

• What has happened so far: Till now, about 210 acres of land in 3 villages (Maniram, Rahmatnagar, Balapar) has been purchased with the consent of the farmers.
• What will happen next: But this land is not enough for the project. Therefore, now compulsory acquisition of hundreds of acres of land in many villages of Chaurichaura and Sadar tehsil will be done.

This is where the matter lies! Farmers are not happy with the compensation rates offered by the government. They say that they are not getting the right price for their land.

• Farmers’ demand: Farmers’ demand is that first the circle rate of the land should be corrected according to today’s market price, and then four times the compensation should be given.
• Government’s side: GIDA officials are continuously talking to the farmers, but no solution has been found yet.

Work continues despite opposition

Despite opposition from farmers, GIDA is moving ahead with this project. The map for Phase-1 of ‘Gurukul Township’ has been approved and the process of taking possession of about 200 acres of land has also been started. GIDA Vice President Anand Vardhan has assured that transparency will be maintained in the entire process and the interests of farmers will also be taken care of.

This project can prove to be a milestone for the development of Gorakhpur, which will provide homes and employment to thousands of people. However, the path to this development will be smooth only when a right balance is struck between the interests of farmers and the future of the city.