The Housing and Urban Development Department which administers Lakes and Waterways Development Authority, had taken up with Union Ministry of Environment and Forests the project for funding the compensation to be paid to the Dal dwellers for acquisition of their land and structures within the Dal lake. The project has now been cleared after its techno-financial justification.

The mandatory body of the water and power sector, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) claimed the disbursement of Rs 66.347 billion against resettlement work and payment of compensation to displaced people of Mangla Dam upraising project, costing Rs 101.364 billion.

Laying of pipelines for carrying regassified LNG (liquefied natural gas) from Puthuvype to Kochi and beyond is on schedule and no hitch is expected, according to GAIL (India) Limited officials here.

There have been some enquiries from the Forest Department about certain patches of land in Palakkad where the pipeline is to pass through. These are normal queries and are being replied to, a senior official of GAIL told The Hindu on Tuesday.

Gosaba, Jan. 31: Mamata Banerjee today lent her voice to a pitch to facilitate land acquisition for a life-saving project — an uncommon plea that betrayed the government’s frustration at the slow pace despite the urgency and the promise of generous compensation. The chief minister persuaded the people of Sunderbans to offer their land to build embankments in low-lying areas of South 24-Parganas, which were devastated by the Aila cyclone in 2009.

GOSABA (South 24-Parganas), 31 JAN: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee today admitted that the district administration had failed to use Central funds meant for Aila victims. "It is unfortunate that the district administration has not utilised the funds so far. Intense planning is required to ensure that the money reaches the beneficiaries," Miss Banerjee said laying the foundation of cyclone shelters here this afternoon.

KOLKATA, 31 JAN: De-acquisition of land is the real substance of Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act and acquisition of land is not at all its primary purpose, the counsel of the vendors at Singur, Mr SK Kapur submitted before the Division Bench of Mr Justice Pinaki Ghosh and Mr Justice Mrinalkanti Choudhuri of Calcutta High Court today.

Acquisition of land is only incidental to the main object of the Act which aims at neither rehabilitation nor development though these are part of the legislation's name.

The three-day State conference of the CPI (M) which concluded in Bhiwani on Monday passed a resolution lambasting the Haryana Government for its “senseless” land acquisition policy.

Haryana unit secretary Inderjit Singh said not a single Special Economic Zone had come up in the State even though the Bhupinder Singh Hooda regime had claimed that these, when set up, would generate employment for the people.

A year after Jairam Ramesh's final environmental clearance, Korean giant waits for state govt to hand over land
Last January, the Union environment ministry's approval for the Rs 52,000-crore mega steel project by Korean giant Posco at Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district made headlines.

Islampur, Jan. 30: The North Dinajpur district administration has started the proceedings to return more than 70 acres of land to its rightful tribal owners in Ramganj. This is the first time that the administration has taken up the initiative to restore illegally occupied tribal land, an official claimed. On January 16, the subdivisional officer of Islampur, Partha Ghosh, wrote to the district project officer-cum-district welfare officer to begin the proceedings for restoration of the land under the provisions of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955.