(PHOTO: NH33 in Jharkhand)
Highways Min struggles for possession of acquired land
Gunjan Pradhan Sinha
New Delhi : The ministry of road transport and highways, which has been successful in bringing land acquisition to levels needed to achieve 20-km-a-day target of road building, is, however, struggling to bring the acquired land under its possession and insulate itself from paying huge compensations to developers.
While, on paper, the ministry has managed to acquire 37,789 hectares of land for its national highways development programme (NHDP), land under its physical possession is rather low at 21,345 hectares.
The primary reason for the discrepancy is blamed on litigations and delays in shifting public utilities, which apparently is the responsibility of state governments. Last year, the ministry had decided to complete acquisition of at least 80 per cent of the land before awarding a project to ensure uninterrupted work. Under the land acquisition policy, the NHAI has to compensate the developer on a daily basis whenever it is unable to hand over the land for building a road.
In Goa, while land has been acquired under Section 3(D) of the National Highways Act 1956, the actual possession is nil. In Uttarakhand while land acquisition is 100 per cent, the actual possession is merely 40 hectares of the total 366 hectares. Himachal Pradesh, in particular, has been a tough state, where both acquisition and possession stand at zero against a total target of 78 hectares.
Other states where the NHDP is lagging on possession include Kerala, Bihar, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal. Also, states such as Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, J&K, Delhi and UP are yet to sign the state support agreement (SSA) for land acquisition. The SSA is a reiteration of the constitutional responsibility of the state government and is legally tenable. In Bihar the NHAI managed to actually acquire 903 hectares of the intended 3,659 hectares. Land acquired in the state stands at 2,810 hectares. In Kerala high population density on either side of highways has stalled linear land acquisition. Of the targeted 1,361 hectares only 462 hectares has been acquired, of which roughly 200 hectares is under the Authority's possession. In Gujarat, huge tracts of lands were to be notified last year for acquisition but progress has been slow.
"If we actually have the acquired land under our possession, 20-km-a-day target is achievable," a senior government official associated with the process told The Indian Express. “Land acquisition has reached optimum levels to support our pipeline of projects approved for the NHDP," he said.
Courtesy: Indian Express
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