Delay in land acquisition is proving to be a stumbling block in expediting road projects as 16 schemes worth about Rs 15,000 crore are stalled due to it.
“Sixteen major highway projects in four states entailing about Rs 15,000 crore investment are stalled due to inordinate delays in land acquisition,” a road transport and highways ministry official told PTI.

JAIPUR: With monsoon approaching and farmers gearing up to sow the next crop, the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) has a big challenge ahead to take possession of remaining acquired land for the ring road project.

As the clouds of uncertainty continue to hover over the project, even those farmers who had surrendered their lands are preparing to sow groundnut and bajra after rain this monsoon.

It took a year of peaceful protests for 3,000-odd villagers of Rojka Meo in Mewat district to finally get their due. They were given revised compensation of their land taken up by the government for developing an industrial township in the area. On Thursday, a large number of villagers sat on a dharna on the Gurgaon-Alwar State Highway at Rojka Meo in Mewat district for seven hours. It was after this that a decision to hike their compensation by Rs 21 lakh per acre was reached.

Many projects in the country may be languishing because of land acquisition problems but the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) has over the past three years acquired 70 per cent of the 10,000 hectares it requires to construct exclusive railway lines for goods traffic. The area acquired is more than half as large as the 18,500-hectare Kolkata metropolitan city.

Rajasthan, which had prided itself on leading the way in relocation of villagers from its tiger reserves, is now facing a backlash. Villagers living inside Sariska reserve are in agitation mode and are refusing to be relocated.

Their complaint is that the `10 lakhs being offered to them by the government is completely inadequate. Gujjar leader Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsla is also supporting their agitation which is also being fuelled by mine owners who operate on the boundaries of Sariska and who want to restart their mining operations.

MUMBAI: For 480-odd farmers of Virur village in Chandrapur district, it was a pleasant surprise and a big relief when Coal India Ltd hiked the compensation for land acquisition from Rs 44,000 to Rs 10 lakh per acre and also offered job to a family member. The company will now shell out around Rs 125 crore to these farmers for acquiring 1,497 hectare for exploration of coal blocks.

SHILLONG: The State Government is preparing its written submission on the jinxed Umiam-Jorabat four-lane road project to be submitted before the Gauhati High Court, following a direction from the court.

The Gauhati High Court asked the State Government to file the written submission on the basis of a PIL filed by the landowners and an NGO in opposition to the recent decision of the State Government to construct the proposed four-lane road through the Umsning Bypass.

New Delhi: In a rare compliment from a UPA minister for the Modi government in Gujarat, new and renewable energy minister Farooq Abdullah on Monday said the solar power plant atop a water canal in the state has shown the nation the way and it will be replicated by Damodar Valley Corporation.
“Gujarat has shown the way” with the commissioning of the world’s first 1MW canal-top solar power plant in Mehsana district, he said in RS. The project eliminates the requirement to acquire vast tract of land and limits evaporation of water from 750 meter long canal. TNN