Dimapur, February 12 (MExN): With regard to the 4-lane highway project from Patkai/ Chumukedima Bridge to Kushiabill village under Dimapur district, ACAUT Nagaland today stated that the decision of the National Highway Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL) to pay compensation to the landowners on installment basis citing lack of funds smells fishy. “In all likelihood it smacks of conspiracy and the role of the State government in this whole sordid affair is also questionable,” a press release from Media Cell, ACAUT Nagaland stated.
It questioned the excuse of fund constraints as the project is already sanctioned and work was supposed to start from March 2016 as declared by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari during his visit to the State in November 2015.
ACAUT alleged that one of the great scams in the State is to deposit development funds or even salaries in the banks and usurp the interest money generated by delaying to release the money for as long as possible. “With the land compensation amount running into hundreds of crores of rupees, the possibility of delay on this count is too strong to be discounted,” it stated. The ACAUT Nagaland demanded that both the NHIDCL and State government immediately and clearly clarify on the vexed land/ building compensation controversy at the earliest.
It further claimed that the 4-lane project was originally supposed to take off in 2004 and necessarily completed by now if the project amount hadn’t been pocketed by certain politicians. The Guwahati-Shillong sector sanctioned much later is now completed, it added. Meanwhile, it maintained that the resentment and agitation by the landowners against the reported decision to pay land compensation on installment basis is totally justified. “It is simply injustice that people whose homes are to be razed down should be paid in installments since they’d require every penny of the compensation amount to start their lives elsewhere,” it stated.
Also, pointing out that the estimation of lands and buildings for compensation was done as per 2013, ACUAT questioned if in case the landowners demand rate revision in tandem with the present prevailing market rate, will the State government allow the project to be delayed or derailed on this count.
ACAUT Nagaland further demanded that the full compensation amount should be paid without any further delay and any entity derailing the project under whatever circumstances shall be held accountable. It asserted that it will not allow lame excuses to derail the 4-lane project under any circumstances and it is prepared to follow the project at every step of the way to ensure a transparent process in its implementation.
