HSVP cancels land acquisition for power sub-station after compensation hiked 12 times

Gurugram: The Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) has decided to cancel acquisition of 15 acres of land in Shikohpur village after a local court enhanced the

Gurugram: The Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) has decided to cancel acquisition of 15 acres of land in Shikohpur village after a local court enhanced the rate of compensation to more than ₹18 crore per acre. The HSVP said that the enhanced price of the land was “prohibitive”.

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As per HSVP officials, the authority had acquired 15.5 acres in Shikohpur to set up a power substation for supplying electricity to sectors 76,77,78 and sectors 81 to 95.

The HSVP had acquired the land in 2012 and fixed the compensation at the rate of ₹1.5 crore per acre. But the land owners did not accept this price and filed a petition in 2015 in the court of additional district magistrate, Gurugram. In July this year, the court enhanced the compensation to ₹18.38 crore per acre. The interest component was also added to the price and the cost of acquisition became over ₹44 crore per acre, said the officials.

The officials said that the issue was referred to the government, which decided to recommend that the acquisition of this land be cancelled. Thereafter on November 22, the director general, urban estates, issued directions to HSVP administrator and land acquisition officials to cancel the acquisition. It was also directed that compensation paid to the owners for acquiring the land should be recovered.

Chander Shekhar Khare, HSVP administrator, said that the cost of the land had become prohibitive and as such the authority decided not to acquire it. “Another site would be selected and acquired to set up the sub-station and related facilities soon,” he added.

The officials also said that the authority has been grappling with cash crunch for the past few years and the situation has become quite bad at present.