The Maharashtra government has recently given back 54 land acquisition proposals to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), asking civic officials to frame the proposals as per the Centre's ordinance to amend the Land Acquisition Act.
The Maharashtra government has recently given back 54 land acquisition proposals to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), asking civic officials to frame the proposals as per the Centre's ordinance to amend the Land Acquisition Act.
The ordinance to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, was brought about last year by the ruling BJP government. It has drawn widespread flak from farmers, social activists and opposition parties since they felt it's 'anti-farmer' in nature.
Civic officials say it is an additional burden to re-frame the land acquisition proposals once again as per the ordinance, given that there could be further amendments to the Act after the government discusses the ordinance in the budget session of Parliament with opposition parties vociferously opposing the land acquisition amendment bill.
"Acquiring land is a long and complicated process. It's not easy to frame the land acquisition proposals repeatedly as per the changing clauses in the Act. Since these proposals were delayed and the land couldn't be acquired as per the old Act, they were sent back to us to be framed once again as per the changes in the ordinance," a senior civic official said.
"If there are further changes in the Aact, we will have to frame the same proposals again in line with those changes since acquiring land will take time," added the official.
On August 18 last year, dna had reported that more than Rs400 crore of BMC's money was stuck with the state government in the land acquisition process and that the civic body was to acquire more than 172 plots — 135 from suburbs and 37 from the city — even though some of the acquisition processes started as early as five years ago.
Suburban collector Shekhar Channe, however, justified the decision saying that since there were changes in the Act as per the ordinance, the pending proposals will have to be re-framed as per that.
"Acquisition of many plots has been completed. If some of the proposals are pending because of the general procedural delays, we can't keep them stuck. They will have to be framed as per the new clauses," he said.
Land acquisition process
If the BMC wants to acquire a plot, it cannot directly approach the owner. It first approaches the collector, who then issues a notification in a newspaper. The land is measured and its value is decided based on the ready reckoner rate. If the owner agrees to the compensation, they go ahead with the acquisition process. The BMC has to submit at least two-thirds of the amount to the collector for the acquisition.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}