Govt offers Khera farmers alternative land

Shiv Kumar Sharma

Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, December 14

After issuing denotification for nearly 825 acres of land acquired for the Dadupur-Nalvi irrigation scheme, the Haryana Government has now offered alternative land to farmers of Khera village. Over 5 acres of land of the Khera farmers was not denotified as the government had constructed a road on it.

The road was constructed along the bank of the Dadupur-Nalvi canal and it connects the Ambala-Jagadhri road with the Jagadhri-Chhachhrauli road.

Anurag Rastogi, Principal Secretary, Irrigation and Water Resources, issued a notification in this regard on December 11. “Now, a scheme has been prepared to offer alternative land in Kail village to the land owners owning aforesaid 5.39225 acres of land. The offered land is closely located just across the Ambala-Jagadhri road and the alternative land has the same value, utility and market value on par with the 5.39225 acres of land already acquired and utilised,” states the notification.

According to the notification, the interested farmers will have to submit their claims within 30 days of publication of the notification in writing before the Land Acquisition Officer, Ambala.

This shall, however, be subject to the return of the total amount already paid by the government to the land owners along with interest, if any.

According to information, nearly 830 acres were acquired for the scheme from 2004 onwards. The land was meant for the construction of the main channels namely Shahbad Feeder, Shahbad Distributary and Nalvi Distributary.

The farmers, whose land was acquired after 2004, were not satisfied with the award and filed an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The High Court awarded compensation of Rs 2,887 per square metre, which was estimated to be Rs 1,16.83 lakh per acre plus incidental charges. After taking interest and other charges into account, the compensation increased to Rs 3.39 crore per acre.

Instead of paying the huge compensation, the state government denotified nearly 825 acres of land on August 3 this year.