About Rs 3750 cr needed to acquire private land
Failure to restrict sale-purchase of land leads to situation
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Jan 8: Uncertainty is looming large over the development of Smart Integrated Satellite Township along the Ring Road in Jammu as whopping Rs 3750 crores are required to acquire private land for the project mainly because of failure of the administration to timely impose embargo on the sale-purchase of land for residential and commercial purposes.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that soon after the work on Jammu Ring Road started several years back, the Government announced its plan to develop Smart Integrated Satellite Township along the Ring Road. However, no serious thought was paid towards the necessity of putting restrictions on the sale and purchase of land for residential and commercial purposes despite being aware of the fact that sufficient State land required for the project was not available in the area.
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When the exercise was started to work out feasibility and financial implications for development of Integrated Township on 7.5 kilometers stretch from Akhnoor Road Kangrail to foothills of Kanger village of Bhalwal tehsil with 500 meters depth on each side, it came to the fore that a total of 999 kanals of State land in scattered patches is available for the project and 1980 kanals of land belongs to Custodian Department for which compensation will have to be paid.
“Moreover, the tentative land acquisition cost for private land measuring around 15,000 kanals based on the stamp duty rates for the year 2024 has been worked out at Rs 3750 crores under Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 besides settlement and rehabilitation cost”, sources informed.
They further said, “this situation has emerged mainly because sale and purchase of private land along the Ring Road have taken place at large scale for residential and commercial purposes and landowners are not willing to part their land for acquisition”, adding “the land compensation is four-times of the Stamp Duty Rates in case of rural area and two-times in urban areas besides the cost of rehabilitation and resettlement which is very high for formulation of affordable housing schemes”.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 also involves conduct of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Scheme which often takes considerable time.
“All these aspects were discussed in several official meetings but no concrete decision has so far been taken as a result of which uncertainty is looking large over the development of Smart Integrated Satellite Township along the Ring Road”, sources said.
They further said, “for speedier acquisition of land, the process of land pooling is a suitable alternate to the normal acquisition process in which all the statutory benefits are given to the general satisfaction of the landowners”, adding “the Draft Land Pooling Policy 2024 involves the active participation of the landowners through forming consortium. Broadly the policy covers the areas for land pooling falling under the jurisdiction of/notified by Development Authority under J&K Development Act, 1970”.
In each Land Pooling Scheme, the consortium may retain 60% of the contiguous area and hold the remaining 40% on behalf of the Development Authority to be surrendered (free of encumbrances) as and when required by the Development Authority for development of city level physical infrastructure, recreational and public/semi-public facilities as per the Master Plan or Zonal Development Plans.
As per the draft policy, each landowner will surrender land proportionate to the area of land pooled, irrespective of land uses assigned to their original land in the Master Plan or Zonal Development Plans. The remaining 60% land shall be utilized by Consortium/Developer Entity for development of residential, commercial, public and semi-public facilities at neighbourhood level. “But all these aspects will assume significance only when the Land Pooling Policy is notified and after obtaining the interest of the landowners for participation in the land pooling scheme”, sources said.
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