NEW DELHI: To mitigate delays and additional financial burdens, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has come up with a timeline for smooth land acquisition. The agency has made provisions for issuance of draft notification, its submission to the Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA), actual possession and mutation. There are provisions for monitoring the land transfer process by the senior officials weekly and fortnightly.
The schedule has been prepared considering the window of 21 days available to the land owners during which they can object to the land acquisition notice.
The land is acquired by the NHAI as per the National Highways Act 1956 and 21-day period from date of publication of the notification in newspapers is stipulated to file objections.
According to the officials, this window was not being utilised optimally hence delaying the acquisition thus resulting in cost escalation. The issue was deliberated and then the suggestion to formulate an indicative timeline corresponding to take over the land with mutation was approved to expedite the process.
Several projects remain stuck for long because the authorities did not get possession of land required on time.
The timeline stipulates number of days for submission of draft to CALA, uploading of draft 3D proposal on ‘Bhoomi Rashi’ portal, publication of gazette, securing Right of Way, declaration of award, disbursement of compensation, possession and mutation. The completion of the series of activities should be done in 336 days.
The portal was developed for online processing of land acquisition notifications to accelerate highway infrastructure development projects.
“The timeline outlined regarding the land acquisition activities shall be monitored by the project director (PD) on a weekly basis and by the regional officer (RO) on a fortnightly basis. Adherence to this timeline is essential to minimise overall delays in land acquisition for national highways projects. Any issues or deficiencies should be promptly reported to the concerned chief general manager (technical) at NHAI headquarters,” read a circular regarding the timeline issued by the authority.
The Union ministry of Road Transport and Highways also conducts training for staff of the NHAI, National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) and states’ public work departments (PWDs) for land acquisition for highways.
No possession
Several projects remain stuck for long because the authorities did not get possession of land required on time. The timeline stipulates number of days for submission of draft to CALA, uploading of draft 3D proposal on ‘Bhoomi Rashi’ portal, publication of gazette, securing Right of Way, declaration of award, disbursement of compensation, possession and mutation.