Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava

Stories by Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava

How Haryana govt helped Patanjali to buy lands illegally

How Haryana govt helped Patanjali to buy lands illegally

Rediff.com   24 Jun 2019

When agricultural holdings get fragmented over years, the state government has the power to step in and help farmers pool their land parcels for improving land productivity, after which the pooled land is divided up into larger plots. Instead of the fragments they hold, a farmer gets a single contiguous patch of an equal size. But, it is done only for agricultural holdings. In Kot village, however, the consolidation has been ordered for the entire village land, including the hilly forested commons, which are already pooled. This is not the first time that the Haryana government has attempted such a consolidation of Kot common lands.

Patanjali's maze of firms that do shady land dealing in Haryana

Patanjali's maze of firms that do shady land dealing in Haryana

Rediff.com   21 Jun 2019

Restricted by state government orders, the ownership of such land could not be formally registered, so the advances made continued to be reflected in the accounts as 'advances against land'.

How Patanjali 'broke' laws to acquire land in Aravalli hills

How Patanjali 'broke' laws to acquire land in Aravalli hills

Rediff.com   19 Jun 2019

The land acquisition, the consolidation process in Kot and a slew of other decisions by the Haryana government to open the hills to privatisation and commercial activity run contrary to court orders, environmentalists' demand, and at times the Union government's measures to protect the Aravalli hills, say Nitin Sethi & Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava.

'What is better than dying for Gangaji?'

'What is better than dying for Gangaji?'

Rediff.com   6 Jan 2019

'Two have already sacrificed their lives.' 'How many more shall need to sacrifice before the government listens?' 'Four, five or six? They are ready, waiting.' After Ganga campaigner G D Agrawal's death, a Haridwar ashram's sadhus are on a relay fast unto death.