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Metro land acquisition gets costlier

Union government's Land Acquisition Act has hiked up compensation cost by four times

Hyderabad: Negligence in acquiring properties for the Hyderabad Metro Rail project will cost nearly Rs 200 crore to the state exchequer. Nearly 1,700 properties are yet to be acquired by the government. Besides, the enforcement of the Union government's Land Acquisition Act has hiked up compensation cost by four times. On the Chilkalguda-Musheerabad stretch alone, the additional compensation burden has been pegged at Rs 75 crore.

It is the responsibility of the government to acquire properties, pay compensation to the owners, and demolish them for road widening to facilitate Metro works by barricading the road. However, officials have neglected to acquire properties in core areas of the city in the last three years, resulting in the Metro works coming to a halt.

Meanwhile, the new Act came into force putting the government in a fix due to increased compensation costs. Earlier, the government had offered up to Rs 35,000 per sq. yard. However, now, it will be forced to cough up three times more to acquire the same properties.

Property acquisition has now become difficult in Ameerpet, Sarathi Studio, Greenlands, Somajiguda, Khairatabad, Lakdikapul, Malakpet, Moazzam Jahi Market, Nampally, Gandhi Bhavan and Chikkadpally.

“Property acquisition for Metro works will impose heavy financial burden on the state government. We want to take up the issue with the Centre to seek relaxations,” said Dr Rajiv Sharma, Telangana State chief secretary and chairman of the Special Task Force to monitor the progress of Metro Rail project.

The TS government has to give “right of way” to the Metro works, which require at least a width of 20 feet. However, with the roads being narrow in the core areas of the city, Metro works are being done in 15 feet by barricading. This often causes traffic jams on either side of the barricades and also result in frequent accidents.

The traffic police has refused to give permission to the Metro works. The builder, L&T, has been strongly protested this, saying it will delay the completion of the project. L&T is worried that the Metro project may be delayed by two years if property acquisition is not completed at the earliest.

( Source : dc correspondent )
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