Efforts to take land possession bearing fruit: Chief Secy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 28

The state government is taking baby steps towards taking possession of the land acquired for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). This is being done through constant engagement with farmers and NHAI officials.

As a result, claim top officers in the state government, they have been able to give possession of 8-10 km of land for various road projects each week to the NHAI for the past three months. Of the 1,150 km of the acquired land, possession of 925 km has already been given to the NHAI.

It is learnt that of the 37 NHAI projects in the state, the problem is in taking possession of land for seven projects, while other projects are on track. The authorities met with stiff resistance in Malerkotla today. The other areas where the problems persist are in Kapurthala, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Gurdaspur.

Chief Secretary Anurag Verma is himself leading the charge on the issue. “We are constantly engaging with farmers and NHAI officials, and watching the interest of all stakeholders. We have made substantial progress in the past three months. Possession of land for construction of just 225 km remains, and we are sure that 90 per cent of the possession will be given to the NHAI in September,” he told The Tribune.

Sources say that the farmers unions have been protesting after land acquisition, mostly on the issue of rate of compensation being less.