E-Paper
Greenfield alignment project: Mohali admn decides to hike compensation, NHAI to take final call
The Mohali revenue department has decided that the relief for those being paid ₹24 lakh per acre should be increased to ₹1 crore
Conceding to landowners’ demand for enhanced compensation for the land being acquired for the 32-km greenfield alignment to decongest the Airport Road in Mohali, the Mohali revenue department has decided to increase the rates.
NHAI’s ₹700-crore project has been on hold in the wake of landowners’ demand for more award against the property acquired.
The authority had initially decided to pay between ₹24 lakh and ₹4.12 crore per acre, depending on the land’s location. The revenue department has decided that the relief for those being paid ₹24 lakh per acre should be increased to ₹1 crore.
After the department forwards the recommendation to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the authority will take the final call on whether to enhance the rates.
Mohali district revenue officer Gurjinder Singh Benipal said, “We had previously also advised an increase in the compensation and now, as decided, the final amount will be recommended to NHAI.”
NHAI had earlier released ₹450 crore to acquire 450 acres in 66 villages to construct the 32-km road, but affected landowners in Nagiari, Devi Nagar and other villages objected to the low acquisition rates.
A senior NHAI officer said, “We have already released the compensation as per the collector rates. Senior officials will take further decision on increasing the relief.”
A greenfield road is built in an area that has never been developed. The planned road from IT Chowk near the Chandigarh International Airport to the Kurali-Chandigarh Road will provide an alternative route to traffic moving between the Delhi side and parts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. Ashoka Buildcon Limited has been finalised to execute the project.
The NHAI had come up with this project after scrapping the project to widen the 40-km Kharar-Banur-Tepla road in July 2019, owing to its high cost.
Even MP Manish Tewari had taken up the need for an alternative route with Union minister Nitin Gadkari in February 2020. More recently, on September 30, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, along with party leaders and workers, had held a protest in Mohali against the low compensation rates.
