Govt starts land acquisition process for mountain township at Jathia Devi

In a bid to decongest the state capital, the government has acquired 250 bighas of land. The process for acquisition of more land (400 bighas) has been initiated for setting up the mountain township at Jathia Devi, near here.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Anupam Kashyap, who is chairman of the settlement committee, today chaired a meeting here today to expedite the work of land acquisition for the ambitious project.

“In view of the increasing population of Shimla city the state government proposes to develop another city, which will serve like a satellite township. It will reduce congestion in the state capital,” he said.

The main objective behind setting up the mountain township is to ease the pressure on the state capital, be it in terms of traffic congestion, construction activity and all government offices being located here. The mountain township would be set up with the financial assistance from the Central Government, Kashyap said.

He said for the construction of this project, 250 bighas of land had already been acquired after signing an agreement with residents of Chanan and Majhola villages. The DC said, “Discussions are going on with residents of Anji village for the acquisition of the remaining 400 bighas of land.”

He assured that interests of local landowners would be protected as this was the fundamental responsibility of the state government. Kashyap said a meeting with land landowners would be held and the circle rates of both categories would be decided on the basis of the base price fixed by Himachal Pradesh Housing and Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA).

“In case we are unable to forge consensus, then HIMUDA has the right to acquire land under a special section,” Kashyap said. He directed HIMUDA officials to ensure that complete information about land that was to be acquired or had been acquired was given to owners so that they did not have any kind of doubts. This would also reduce revenue-related matters, he added.

“Since the government is keen to provide self-employment opportunities to local youth in this project, landowners should not be adamant. They should sit together with officials of HIMUDA and determine the circle rates without any disagreement,” he said.

“Officials of HIMUDA have been asked to visit the spot and hold discussions with local landowners to arrive at a consensus,” Kashyap said. He also requested residents of local Anji village to fix the rate per bigha in writing and ensure that it was sent to HIMUDA through a proposal.

Gram panchayat pradhan Baghi Naresh Thakur said it was his responsibility to protect interests of the people of his village. The government should reach an agreement on giving more compensation to landowners of Anji village than the per bigha payment made to landowners of Chanan and Majhola villages.