MoRTH rejects land compensation proposal
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 04 2018:
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has rejected a proposal of the State Government to sanction Rs 23.69 crore forpayment of land compensation to people who would be affected by the construction of Tamenglong-Khongsang road (NH 137) .
The Ministry's unwillingness to sanction the land compensation amount was conveyed through a letter sent by MoRTH Secretary YS Malik to Chief Secretary Dr Suresh Babu on November 19, said a well placed source.
Tamenglong-Khongsang road was a State road before it was recognised as National highway (NH 137) on March 7, 2012 .
Subsequently, the State Government initiated land acquisition process so as to develop the road as a two-lane National highway under SARDP-NE.
BRO too wrote to the State Government to acquire necessary land for development of Tamenglong-Khongsang road so as to upgrade it to meet the specifications of a double lane highway when it was in charge of the particular road.
In the course of the land acquisition process, the State Government announced on April 7, 2015 that a compensatory amount of Rs 32.18 crore has been awarded vide memo no DC (Tml) 13 K-T-Road/2012(Pt 2) .
Earlier, BRO had deposited Rs 8.48 crore with the State Government.
Tamenglong-Khongsang road which has been already declared as a National highway was entrusted to NHIDCL for development and maintenance in May 2016 .
Meanwhile, the Tamenglong Deputy Commissioner requested NHIDCL to make payment of Rs 23.69 crore after deducting Rs 8.48 crore deposited by the BRO from the Rs 32.18 crore awarded by the State Government and another Rs 0.92 crore for additional area required for geometric improvement as per the DPR.
The letter sent by the Ministry said that the land acquisition proceedings were undertaken for the entire planned ROW (right of way) of 24 metres which includes the already existing erstwhile State highway which should not have been part of these land acquisition proceedings as it was the responsibility of the State Government to have handed over the road when it was declared as a National Highway, free from all encumbrances including the existing ROW.
The liability for payment of compensation, if any, for the ROW of the existing road, prior to its declaration as a National highway rests with the State Government.
An amount of Rs 2.45 crore has been included as land compensation within the ROW of existing highway in the State Government's award of Rs 32.18 crore, out of which Rs 1.18 crore had been already paid by the BRO.
Whereas MoRTH or NHIDCL would be happy to pay for the cost of the incremental land required for further development of Tamenglong-Khongsang National Highway, there is no way for the .Ministry or NHIDCL to take up this kind of liability for the ROW of a road that existed with the State for such a long time.
If the State Government is reluctant to bear the liability of the land for the old ROW, the Ministry may be left with no option but to denotify the particular National Highway and get out of the project, the Ministry's letter stated categorically.
It further appealed to the State Government to take a re-look at the land acquisition proceedings and agree to bear the financial burden for the land under the ROW of the road before it was notified as a National Highway.
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