Admn awaits report on Balikoti land deal

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, June 30

The preliminary inquiry into the sale and purchase of land in the Balikoti patwar circle of Shillai has revealed that about 108 bighas was sold in five months.

The district administration is now awaiting a detailed report.

ADC Manmohan Sharma said once they received the report, they would work out ways to check the sale and purchase of land. The deals came to light following reports of the state government acquiring land for 660 mw multi-purpose project.

Sources said 108 bighas was bought from 33 farmers at a nominal cost ranging between Rs 75,000 and Rs 1 lakh at Kangra, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Mandi districts.

These deals were executed in 10 days and mutations were executed within a day. The otherwise lax employees of the revenue department displayed extraordinary promptness in completing formalities.

Sources in the district administration said people involved in revenue-related works were acting as middlemen to execute such deals. Five land buyers were locals while the remaining were from other districts.

Officials said since an amendment had been made to the HP Land Acquisition Act’s Section 4 in 2013 , a land owner could sell his land until Section 11 was notified by the state government. Since the state government was yet to issue any notification for acquiring this land, the officials could do little to put an end to the sale and purchase of this land.

Officials of the Revenue Department admitted that there was nothing illegal in these land deals, though the land owners could get a better deal if the land was acquired by the state government.

Although the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau is inquiring into a similar case in the Renuka Dam, it has not deterred land sharks from indulging in the practice at the Kishau Dam.