/>

Land losers for proposed highway widening project demand fair compensation

They have been waiting for it since the start of acquisition process in 2015

Published - February 10, 2021 11:29 pm IST - Mangaluru

The losers of the land in Mangaluru and Moodbidri taluks for the proposed four-laning of the Mangaluru- Moodbidri National Highway 169 have demanded payment of compensation as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act.

Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, Mariyanna Thomas, a former councillor and member of Rastriya Heddari 169 (13) Mangaluru- Moodidri Raste Agalikarana Bhoomalakara Horata Samiti, said land losers from Mangaluru and Moodbidri have been waiting for just compensation since the start of acquisition process in 2015. “We want compensation as per the RFCTLARR Act. We cannot accept any other form of calculation,” she said.

Residents of Addoru, Padavu, Badagulipady, Badaga Yedapadavu, Kandavara, Kudupu, Mooduperar, and Mooluru, Tenkulipady villages of Mangaluru taluk and of Badagamijar, Belvai, Marpady, Padumarnad, Puttige, Tenkamijar, and Todar villages of Moodbidri taluk will lose their land. Following the final notification for land acquisition, the Special Land Acquisition Officer (SLAO) carried out the survey of lands and properties and passed the final award. This was sent to the Project Director of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Mangaluru, who returned it to the SLAO on December 23, 2020 asking him to fix the compensation as per the guidelines of Central Valuation Committee (CVC) . The Deputy Commissioner on December 29, 2020 wrote to the Regional Officer of the NHAI in Bengaluru to pay compensation as per the RFCTLARR Act.

The Regional Officer of NHAI wrote to the Additional Chief Secretary, Public Works Department, asking the latter to direct Deputy Commissioner to fix the compensation as per the CVC guidelines.

Ms. Thomas said the SLAO is the competent authority and SLAO has to pass compensation award as per the RFCTLARR Act. When the RFCTLARR is in force there was no question of fixing compensation as per CVC guidelines, which does not take market value of the properties into consideration. “The award so passed as per the CVC guidelines will be far less to that under the RFCTLARR and the land losers cannot agree for such compensation” she added.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.