Land acquisition rate fixed for KTM-Tarai expressway

Ending long-standing dispute over acquisition of land for much-hyped Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track Road, compensation fixation committee on Monday has decided to fix the price of land to be acquired in Makawanpur district for the 76-km express highway in the range of Rs 110,000 to Rs 280,000 per kattha (3,638.20 square feet), depending on location of the land.

The committee led by chief district officer of Makawanpur comprises chief of Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track, chief of District Land Revenue Office, and Local Development Officer.

“After a series of negotiations, we reached an agreement in Hetauda on Monday to provide compensation to land owners, whose land is be acquired for the project, in the range of Rs 110,000 to Rs 280,000 per katha,” Saroj Man Shrestha, chief of the fast-track project told the Republica.

As per the existing provision, land owners who disagree with the proposed compensation rate can file complaints with the Ministry of Home Affairs within 15 days of the decision.

“Most possibly we will start distribution of compensation from the second week of November as we have sufficient money in hand for the distribution of compensation,” said Shrestha.

According to Shrestha, the project has to acquire 1,609 kattha of land in six VDCs of Makawapur district.

For another section of the fast-track, the project will acquire land in one VDC each of Kathmandu and Bara and five VDCs of Lalitpur district.

The dispute over the price on which the government can acquire land for the proposed super highway was settled after Prime Minister Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai expressed repeated concerns over the delay in land acquisition process and Central Regional Administrator Madhav Regmi took initiation to end the dispute that jeopardized the timeline for the project implementation.

A recent all-party meeting in Hetauda paved the way for the consensus on the land price.

Persisting dispute over how to fix the price of land to be acquired has delayed the compensation distribution process by over a year.

In a bid to facilitate the land acquisition process, the government had formed a High Level Committee to Facilitate Land Acquisition for Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track Road last year. The committee had recommended to the government to fix the land price between Rs 80,000 and Rs 280,000 per kattha.

However, landowners were demanding almost double the amount suggested by the committee. The high-level committee in September recommended to the government to provide compensation equal to 75 percent of the land value for the residents not possessing land ownership certificates.

The team had clarified that the settlers who are residing for over 20 years are eligible to get the compensation against the acquisition of their land.

Though the government had released Rs 46 million in 2009/10 and also allocated additional Rs 340 million in 2010/11 for paying compensation to land owners, the amount couldn´t be spent due to delay in fixing the price of land in Makawanpur district.

The government has allocated Rs 710 million for the fast-track project, including Rs 340 million for land acquisition in the current fiscal year.

Source:myrepublica

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