Land acquisition likely to become smoother with the New Law
Land acquisition for infrastructure or industrial development projects may become a smoother and more rewarding process in days to come with the new land acquisition law coming into force. The new law, “The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013,” has stricter norms and higher compensation for land owners. As per the new Act, the government agencies should get the consent of 70% of land owners in case of public-private partnership projects, and then pay twice more than the market value as the compensation. The Law also mandates effective rehabilitation and resettlement measures for the land owners.
However, the builders’ community especially in Bangalore is apprehensive that the new Law may lead to cost escalation and execution delays due to increased compensation costs.
According to the professor and dean of School of Social Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, Mr. Narendar Pani, “The new law will definitely escalate the project cost. But I don’t think it will cause any execution delays in projects like the Metro or peripheral road. If people find the compensation package a fair deal, chances of disputes will be relatively few and there’ll be less opposition too. But the causes of delay for public sector projects could be others.”
The new Law has made the Infrastructure agencies in Bangalore brace up for the consequences. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) plans to acquire about 100 hectares of land for Phase 2 of Namma Metro while the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is thinking to acquire 1,900 acres for its 65-km, 75-m wide peripheral ring road (PRR) project which will be connecting Tumkur Road and Hosur Road. The agency also plans to develop new layouts by acquiring over 50,000 acres of land.
“The new rules will complicate the land acquisition process and could delay projects, but we have no option,” said T Sham Bhat, the BDA commissioner.
BMRC, however, is treading carefully and has modified some of its plans to minimize acquisition of land in the execution of Phase 2 of the Metro. Agency estimates say that for the 72-km project, about 1,000 properties spread over 100 hectares of land will be required Pradeep Singh Kharola, BMRC Managing Director said on the plans, “We’ve decided to acquire less than 100 hectares for Phase 2 under the prescribed norms of the new Act. We’ll try and ensure that the project is completed within the deadline.”
Another BMRC official added his comments on the new plans, “Acquisition will be restricted to land required for viaducts and stations alone. We also plan to construct two-level elevated stations instead of the three-level stations constructed on Phase 1. Reduction in the number of floors will not only cut down project costs, but also require lesser land. The ground floor will be sufficient to house passenger amenities and concourse facilities,” said a BMRC official, unveiling new plans.”
Source: The Times of India (Bangalore)
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