Land takeover to start soon for Jewar airport phase-2

It is based on the survey findings that the government decides on the compensation and resettlement terms for the affected families

The district administration will take another week to complete the survey for the land acquisition for phase 2 of Noida international green field airport in Jewar, officials in the know of the matter said on Monday.

The ongoing survey for the land acquisition under phase two will end in a week, officials said. (HT PHOTO)

The land acquisition for the second phase has been approved, but the survey or census will determine the total number of affected people and families, said officials.

It is based on the survey findings that the government decides on the compensation and resettlement terms for the affected families. While the survey has been completed in the five villages of Kureb, Dayanatpur, Karauli Bangar, Mudrah and Birampur. it is still going on in Ranhera village, the sixth and final village from where land will be acquired for the second phase of the airport.

“There are some areas left in Ranhera and they are expected to be covered by the survey within a week. After that, we will compile the data and submit the report,” said Balram Singh, additional district magistrate (land acquisition).

The second phase of the airport is planned over an area of 1,365 hectares, of which around 1,185 hectares is owned by farmers and have to be acquired. Work is currently underway on the first phase of the project, which is scheduled to be completed by September 2024 with one terminal building spread over one lakh square metres and with a passenger capacity of 1.2 crore per year.

The survey started in December and was expected to be over within a month. However, it has already taken over two months. Officials said one of the major reasons for the delay is the increased number of land dealings in the area that has created much difference from the initial survey findings.

As per the initial survey of the area, there were 7,164 affected farmers who have to compensated at the rate of ₹3,400 per square metre (plus additional benefits under rehabilitation and resettlement process (R&R)).

“After the initial survey, there were many internal dealings and land was split as people came to know that the area will be acquired. This is one of the most smoothly running land acquisition processes in the state and the compensation and R&R provisions are quite beneficial. Many farmers have transferred different portions of their land to their children and relatives so that the number of beneficiaries could increase,” said Singh.

The additional benefits under the R&R process includes an extra compensation of ₹5 lakh to every adult in the affected family from where land is being acquired.

There were 16 teams conducting the survey to finalise the boundaries of the blocks. The four small villages were divided into two blocks and the two big villages were divided into four blocks each for the survey.

“Ranhera and Kureb are the two big villages where eight teams were deployed. Only Ranhera is left and data is being compiled now,” said Abhay Singh, subdivisional magistrate.

Once the approval from over 70% of the affected farmers was received, the district administration had sent the state government a proposal for starting the compensation process according to the rehabilitation and resettlement process according to the Land Acquisition Act, 2013. After it got the state approval, the survey started, said officials.