Stepped up land compensation for Western Bypass, it claims
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, June 3: Days after the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) threatened to terminate all road projects in Meghalaya, the state government on Monday said it is trying its level best to complete the process of disbursement of land compensation for the Shillong Western Bypass project as fast as possible.
The NHIDCL is unhappy that it is not getting the kind of support it expected from the state government.
In a statement, the government said the disbursement for land compensation is a lengthy procedure where all formalities are to be followed to ensure that payment is made correctly and judiciously to the beneficiaries.
The statement said although the Deputy Commissioners (Revenue) of both East Khasi Hills and Ri-Bhoi districts were busy with the Lok Sabha elections, yet the process for land compensation was not stopped.
The statement clarified that the project is for the construction of a double lane with paved shoulder for a total length of 38.256 km. It added that the land compensation amount is Rs 182.06 crore for Ri-Bhoi district and Rs 479.46 crore for East Khasi Hills district.
“The payment is going on. Whenever procedure is completed, payment is made to the landowners accordingly,” the statement said.
According to the statement, the length of the road under Ri-Bhoi district is 15.701 km. It said the last instalment for Ri-Bhoi district, as received from the NHIDCL, was on February 21, 2024 for an amount of Rs 181.56 crore for which payment notice was issued on February 22, 2024 to all affected landowners except those involved in dispute/claims/counter-claims. The amount disbursed up to March 31, 2024 is Rs 77.11 crore.
An area of 4,87,325.77 sq.mt. (80.45%) of the total area of 6,05,771.883 sq.mt. has been handed over to NHIDCL up to May 22, 2024, the statement said.
“After the hearing conducted on May 29, 2024, another 5% of land received from the landowners will be handed over to NHIDCL shortly. This will be 85.45% of the land. Hearing was also conducted on 30th May 2024 for the remaining cases,” the statement further said.
It was also stated that the length of the road under East Khasi Hills district is 22.555 km and the total area is 10,61,454.466 sq.mt. with 488 numbers of landowners in 11 villages.
The amount disbursed to the landowners was Rs 369.25 crore and the balance is Rs 110.21 crore, the statement said, adding that the overall payment will go up to 83% in a week’s time.
The statement also said that the payment of compensation to the remaining landowners is pending as there are multiple objections raised by the landowners and for which, a resurvey had to be conducted. The changes are to be compiled and confirmed before payment is made, the statement said.
“It is reiterated that government is fully committed to ensuring transfer of land to NHIDCL for execution of the project and the same is being monitored at the highest level in the government,” the statement added.