Land for shorter airport route: Chandigarh offers Rs 2.5 crore/acre, won’t deal below Rs 15-20 crore: Owners

Dushyant Singh Pundir

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Chandigarh, December 15

The process to acquire land for a shorter route to Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport in Mohali has hit a hurdle as landowners have demanded manifold increase in the compensation offered by the UT.

They said in Punjab, there was a provision of Rs 10-15 crore per acre compensation for such projects whereas the UT Administration was offering just about Rs 2.50 crore per acre. They demanded the compensation at the rate of Rs 15-20 crore per acre as “the land is in the urban area of the UT”.

A month ago, UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit gave approval to acquire land for a shorter route to the airport through the UT’s Negotiation Policy, 2018, which aims at expediting land acquisition while offering perks and incentives, in addition to compensation.

Landowners, owning approximately 80 acres, are opposing the acquisition of only 35 acres. They said the land should be acquired as per the land pooling policy of Punjab or Haryana or as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

The landowners said they were against the Negotiation Policy of the UT and the partial acquisition. Affected farmers said a middle chunk of land was being acquired to make the road, following which they would be left with fragments of land on both sides of the road.

Seeking parity with compensation received by farmers in Punjab or Haryana, they claimed the land was no longer agriculture as it came under the jurisdiction of the MC. The owners said they would resort to protest if their demands were not accepted.

A senior UT officer said they had assured an increase of 10 per cent under the Negotiation Policy and were also open to compensation through the Land Acquisition Act, 2013.

Under the land pooling scheme, owners would be provided residential or commercial plots instead of monetary compensation. But under the Act, landowners are paid as per the collector rate along with a job for one person in the family. Of 34.61 acres to be acquired, 11.88 acres lies in Burail and 22.73 acres in Char Taraf Burail and 3.76 acres of defence land.

Conflicting views
Chandigarh policy not acceptable

Farmers say they are against partial acquisition. Entire 80 acres should be acquired as per land pooling policy of Punjab or Haryana where owners get much higher compensation, they say

Ready for 10% hike

A senior UT officer says the Administration has assured an increase of 10 per cent under the Negotiation Policy and is also open to compensation through the Land Acquisition Act, 2013