Pay more to acquire land for Patti rail link: Farmers
Ferozepur, January 1
Demanding better compensation, farmers belonging to three villages, where land has to be acquired for the construction of a 25.47-km-long Ferozepur-Patti rail link, have refused to part with their land.
Raminder Singh, Dyal Singh, Davinder Singh, Dilbagh Singh, Bachittar Singh, Nasib Singh and others said they had received notices from the state government regarding acquisition of land.
“Several families are totally dependent on their land for their living. If the government acquires their land, their lives will be ‘ruined’ because the government is not even paying the actual price,” said Dyal Singh, a farmer.
Another farmer, Raminder Singh, said the government was paying around Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per acre, which was way too less than the market value of the land.
“We demand that the government should pay at least Rs 80-90 lakh per acre to the farmers,” said the farmers. Some farmers said the rail link would divide their land into two parts. Besides, a portion of their land would be raised, which would create issues for them in farming.
Earlier, after conducting the social impact assessment, the state government had sought objections to the acquisition of around 60 acres and 4 kanals falling under Mallanwala Khas, besides 975 kanals and 6 marlas in Dulla Singh Wala, Kutubdin Wala and Kala Ke Hithar for the new broad gauge line between Ferozepur and Patti.
Sources said 145.01 hectares of land was needed for this project, which included 49.33 hectares in three villages in Ferozepur and 95.68 hectares in eight villages under Tarn Taran.
This project, announced in 2013 by the then Railway Minister, Pawan Bansal, has got delayed as the state could not provide the land due to procedural delays and paucity of funds. However, last year, the government had cleared the decks for the land acquisition for the construction of the rail link and promised adequate compensation to the farmers.
The government has to provide encumbrance-free land while the Railways will spend the remaining Rs 2.99 crore, which would include construction of two overbridges. DRM Seema Sharma said so far, the land had not been provided by the state government. “As soon as the land is provided, the project will be started,” said the DRM.
