E-Paper
Land acquisition hurdles puts brakes on NHAI projects in Punjab
Apart from the law and order situation, the land acquisition problems in Punjab are the major reason for the stalling of the National Highway projects, especially the Delhi-Katra Expressway projects.
Apart from the law and order situation, the land acquisition problems in Punjab are the major reason for the stalling of the National Highway projects, especially the Delhi-Katra Expressway projects. Of the total 650km-long expressway, 361 km of proposed length falls in Punjab.
Inordinate delays and subsequent attack on NHAI staff and contractors forced the Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on August 9 to write a strongly-worded letter to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann asking him to intervene or else the NHAI would have no option but to cancel eight highway projects in Punjab with a total length of 293 km and costing ₹14,288 crore if the law and order situation in the state does not improve.
In his letter, Gadkari cited two recent incidents of violence. In one incident in Jalandhar, an engineer of a contractor was brutally assaulted and in another incident in Ludhiana, the project camp of the expressway contractor was attacked.
Due to the pending issues related to land acquisition and the prevailing law and order situation in the state, several contractors have requested to foreclose contracts and have raised claims against the NHAI, Gadkari further wrote in his letter.
As per the list of projects and data accessed by HT, most of the projects mentioned by Gadkari in his letter are not even 40% complete even though the work allocation started in 2021.
Two projects haven’t even started because of land acquisition issues.
Delhi-Katra-Amritsar bypass for which the letter of award (LoA) was issued to the company on May 12, 2021, has not made any headway because of problems in land acquisition. The project’s length is 30.5km and is worth ₹2190.68 crore but work hasn’t started due to land acquisition issues in Taran Taran and Amritsar districts.
Similarly, Ludhiana-Bathinda package-2, awarded on November 9, 2021, has also not started. This stretch of 45.24km, worth ₹1,555 crore, hasn’t seen the light of the day because of problems in land acquisition in Barnala and Bathinda districts.
Similarly, in Ludhiana-Rupnagar package-1, the work for which was awarded on December 14, 2021, a mere 15.31% of the work has been completed as per NHAI. The length of the project is 37.7 km and is worth ₹1,368.91 crore.
Notably, the NHAI has already terminated three projects in Punjab with a total length of 104 km and costing ₹3,263 crore. (see box)
Seeking CM’s attention, Gadkari cautioned the Punjab government that NHAI will have no other option but to cancel/terminate projects if the situation does not improve.
“These are mainly Greenfield corridors and cancelling even one package will render the entire corridor useless,” the Union minister wrote.
Govt in action mode, meets NHAI officials
The letter has spurred the Punjab government into action and on Monday two meetings with NHAI officials were held. In the first meeting governor Gulab Chand Kataria met NHAI officials along with officials of railways, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to review the progress of various ongoing projects in Punjab.
Punjab chief secretary Anurag Verma held an exclusive meeting with NHAI officials, deputy commissioners and senior officials of the PWD department.
Verma, after the meeting, said that directions have been issued to deputy commissioners to speed up the land acquisition process. “We have given directions to deputy commissioners to speed up the land acquisition process and submit periodic progress to my office. As far as incidents of violence are concerned, FIRs have been registered. The perpetrators have been booked and arrested,” the chief secretary added.
Farmers seek higher compensation
Senior Punjab government officials, pleading anonymity, said protests by various farm unions over several issues are the main reason behind the delay in land acquisition for the NHAI projects
“Adequate compensation for the acquisition of lands, construction of service roads and underpasses at these expressways, dispensing the acquisition amount to the actual land owners and the ongoing protests of farmer unions are the main reasons behind the delay in land acquisition,” the official said.
The official cited two instances of Amritsar and Kapurthala.
In Amritsar, farm unions are demanding compensation of ₹3 crore per acre instead of the approved rate of ₹1.08 crore per acre for the 45 acres of acquired land in Manawala Kalan and Rakh Manawala villages. In Kapurthala, unions are demanding compensation of ₹64 lakh per acre instead of the approved rate of ʹ17 lakh per acre for the acquired lands. We are in touch with farm unions to break the deadlock,” the official added.
