The Indian Railways, the anchor of the R95,000-crore dedicated freight corridor (DFC), has made a headway by acquiring around 90% of the land needed for the project without ruffling too many feathers. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) now needs to acquire a total of 11,000 hectares to lay 3,300 km of tracks passing through 60 districts and nine states.
The national transporter says that the land acquisition Bill passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday would not affect it as 90% of the land acquisition process has already been completed. ?We’ll abide by the new law and will give compensation as per its provisions for the 10% land left to be acquired for the 534-km Sonnagar-Dankuni section to be developed under the PPP mode. The major acquisition left now is in Bengal for the eastern corridor, which is under process,? a railway board official said.
As per the land Bill, compensation that is twice the market value of land is mandatory in urban areas and four times in rural areas.
To make the acquisition process smoother, the railways has included a clause in the Railway (Amendment) Act, 2008, providing for all project-affected people to be given R20,000 over and above the market value of their land.
Railways will complete the rehabilitation and resettlement of 1 lakh people displaced by land acquisition by the end of this year. ?We are expecting to complete the compensation process, amounting to R4,217 crore, by the end of this calendar year. Till now compensation of R3,160 crore has been paid. Of this, around R2,000 crore was given this year only. Eighty per cent of the alignment of the western and eastern corridors is parallel to the already existing railway track. For the 20% detour, the land requirement is of 11,000 hectare,? the official added.
Though, the eastern and the western corridors are being funded by the World Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), respectively, the compensation for the land is being paid by the ministry of railways, which will also be the land-owning agency.
It was also the precondition of the funding agencies that no contract shall be awarded before 90% of the land required is acquired.
Other railway projects such as the Mumbai Elevated Rail Corridor can face further delays as now 70% of the landowners have to give their nod. The cost of the land will also double.