The Gaya International Airport runway. Picture by Suman

The runway extension plan of Gaya International Airport hit another air pocket on Friday with villagers of Bishunganj denying to hand over land at the compensation fixed by the government.

The extension plan of the runway, from 7,500ft to 9,000ft, would require around 100.04 acres. Around 29.8 acres, including six acres at Hariyo village, 7.8 acres at Charova and 16 acres at Dubhal village, have been acquired.

A compensation of around Rs 7.79 crore was paid to the villagers of Hariyo. Rs 1.23 crore was paid to Charova residents and Dubhal villagers got Rs 4.07 crore.

The acquisition of 70.24 acres at Bishunganj, towards the western end of the airport, has posed a hurdle for the government.

District magistrate Balamurugun D. on Thursday called a 10-member delegation of Bishunganj landowners for a dialogue on the land acquisition. However, there was no conclusion.

As the villagers have refused to accept the compensation, the amount of Rs 9.54 crore to be paid to them against land acquisition has been deposited in the Gaya treasury.

The villagers are demanding Rs 9.9 lakh per cottah. The government set the compensation rate at Rs 48,000 per cottah in 2010.

The government has fixed the rate of compensation according to agriculture land but the villagers want residential plot sale rate.

Ranjit Kushwaha, one of the members of the delegation, said they submitted an eight-point demand letter to the district magistrate during the meeting on Thursday.

Ranjit said: “The demands include compensation at current rate as per residential land plot, government job to one member of the family that hands over at least five cottah, pension to the members of the family where no one is eligible for a job, acquisition of barren land plots and not the residential ones, and free power and water supply at Bishunganj. We want 25 per cent of the total income earned from the acquired land be disbursed among farmers to increase registration fee of the neighbouring villages and guarantee of rehabilitation in case no land is left with a family after acquisition.”

Balamurugun said they would try to sort out the issue. Commenting on the demands of the villagers, he said only the genuine ones would be considered.