SHILLONG, Sep 24: Residents of Warimagre in Williamnagar have asked the state government to review the premium price of land that has been fixed at Rs 2.55 lakh per bigha in Warimagre.
In a petition to Chief Secretary DP Wahlang, the residents said that majority of them will not be able to pay the high premium as most of them come from a poor background.
Expressing shock over Warimagre being declared as commercial first-class land by the government, the locals said that the area was not allotted to any department or agency and was instead declared as flooded wasteland by the DC in 1981-1983.
Stating that 98 per cent of the area was submerged in the 1990 floods, the residents said that fixation of such high premium for the land, which was once not accepted, is not justified.
Earlier in June, the state cabinet had decided to regularise the government-owned lands that have been encroached by public in Williamnagar, East Garo Hills.
As per the decision, around 1,200 households in two localities, viz. Balsrigittim and Warimagre in Williamnagar will be regularised and the government will sign a long-term lease with each of the occupants where the ownership of the land will remain with the government.
The government had said that a limit of 10,000 sq ft for each family has been set and the rates for the settlement will be based on the GHADC classification where for Warinagre, which is a first-class land, the rate has been fixed at Rs 2.55 lakh per bigha and for Balsrigittim, which is a second-class land, the rate has been fixed at Rs 1.87 lakh per bigha.
With this move, the government is expected to generate a one-time revenue of Rs 8 crore and Rs 2.67 crore yearly from the land at Balsrigittim, and Rs 4.5 crore and Rs one crore from Warinagre land.
