E-Paper
GMADA defers date to begin acquiring land for ECO City-3 again
Landowners have not shown much interest in the land-pooling scheme; the development authority, too, is struggling with severe cash crunch
The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has once again postponed the date of initiating acquisition of land for its Urban Estate Eco City-3 project at New Chandigarh, Mullanpur, due to shortage of funds and a poor response from landowners to its land pooling scheme. Earlier, they were to begin acquisition from March 12, and now again the date has been shifted to April 12.
The project will have residential, commercial and institutional properties.
When 118 of 450 land owners in the area opted for the scheme, GMADA began acquiring 320 acres in six villages of Rajgarh, Takipur, Kartarpur, Kansala and Hoshiarpur.
GMADA’s land acquisition collector Arina Duggal said the date of initiating acquisition has been deferred on the directions of state government. When asked about the reason for the deferment, she refused to comment.
However, another senior GMADA officer, on the condition of anonymity, said the date was postponed due to a poor response to the land pooling scheme and shortage of funds in GMADA.
As per the land pooling policy, farmers were offered housing and commercial sites in lieu of their land. For example, in the case of acquisition of eight kanal land, the farmer could choose one of the two options— a 1,000 sq yard developed residential site with a 121 sq yard developed SCO site, or a 500-sq yard residential site with a 300 sq yard SCO site.
Landowners did not find the prospect fruitful as they did not expect their properties to attract buyers due to the real estate market slump. Many of them are also cautious of investing with GMADA as it had yet to develop Eco City -2, for which the same scheme had been rolled out 5 years ago, a land owner said.
In November last year, GMADA had approved the rates of acquisition of 320 acres in five villages, with compensation for farmers fixed between ₹1.8 crore and ₹2.4 crore per acre, depending on the village.
The project Announced in 2016, the Urban Estate Eco City-3 project was delayed as farmers did not show any interest. Finally, a fresh notification was issued in December last year. Land was to be acquired under the Land Pooling Policy, 2013.
GMADA had also initiated the process of acquiring 737 acres for its other township, Aerotropolis, spread over 5,400 acres, an expansion of GMADA’s Aerocity near Chandigarh International Airport.
Other townships under GMADA are Knowledge City and IT City, also close to the airport, and Eco City-1 and 2, Edu City and Medi City, all in New Chandigarh.
