Social impact survey for second stage of Jewar airport completed

The Gautam Budh Nagar administration is working on expediting the process of land acquisition for phase 2. As part of phase 1, 1,334 hectares of land has been successfully handed over to concessionaire Zurich International AG

A team from the Gautam Buddha University has finished studying the social impact assessment on farmers’ families whose land is to be acquired for phase 2 of the Jewar airport project, officials said.

A total of 1,363.45 hectare has to be handed over the to the subsidiary of the Zurich AG for the next stage of the Jewar airport project, of which 1,185.69 hectare is private land. (HT Archive)

The Gautam Budh Nagar administration is working on expediting the process of land acquisition for phase 2. As part of phase 1, 1,334 hectares of land has been successfully handed over to concessionaire Zurich International AG.

“We have completed almost all works related to land acquisition and handover under phase 1. Now we are expediting the process to acquire land for phase 2 of the project. We will issue public hearing schedules village-wise in the next two days. Once public hearings are completed, we will move on to the next stage of land acquisition,” said Balram Singh, additional district magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar.

The Uttar Pradesh government is likely to appoint an official to supervise rehabilitation and resettlement works under phase 2 soon. After public hearings in villages, the administration will invite objections and seek consent of farmers.

“Once we will have consent of at least 70% farmers, we will notify Section 11 before starting the acquisition according to procedure,” said Singh.

The team from Gautam Buddha University found out that 3,800 families are likely to be displaced during phase 2.

“The administration must make sure that farmers get their plots, funds and other benefits properly without delay,” said Sanjay Kumar, a farmer from Ranhera.

A total of 1,363.45 hectare has to be handed over the to the subsidiary of the Zurich AG for the next stage of the project, of which 1,185.69 hectare is private land. The social impact assessment team had visited six villages under phase 2-- Karoli Bangar, Kureb, Mundhera, Birampur, Dayanatpur and Ranhera.

The team completed its field visits by August 31 and started compiling its report thereafter. Nodal officer of the team and head of department of political science and international relations department at the university, Dr Vivek Kumar Mishra, said, “In our report submitted to the administration, we wrote that the farmers want to give their land for the airport as they feel it will provide them and their families better opportunities.”

The motive of the study was to assess and detail the socio-economic profile of the villagers affected by the project and the impact on their livelihoods.

The acquisition of private land in the six villages will require almost ₹2,891 crore. The administration has already received ₹1,084 crore from Uttar Pradesh government. The remaining amount has to be arranged by the Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development authorities.