CHANDIGARH: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday blamed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for land acquisition issues in Punjab in his response to Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari who had warned that the Centre would terminate eight highway projects worth Rs 14,288 crore running through the state. On the issue of threats to NHAI officials and contractors, Mann said FIRs had been registered but during investigation it came to light that one case was due to overexcavation of land by the NHAI concessionaire and the other was the result of non-payment of financial dues by the concessionaire to the sub-contractor.”Detailed report of Special DGP (Law and Order) is enclosed herewith. Local police has been directed to deploy patrolling teams in the area to maintain law and order,’’ he said in the letter.Regarding land acquisition, he said,”There are number of cases in which farmers were satisfied with the awards given by the arbitrators and were willing to hand over the possession of their land to NHAI at the awarded rates. However, NHAI chose to challenge the arbitrators award to took inordinately long time in accepting the award. This delayed the acquisition process.” Mann added, “Similarly there are number of cases in which possession of land was given to NHAI but NHAI contractor took a long time in mobilizing their machinery and starting the work. In between the farmers started cultivating the land again. Once state authorities have given the possession of land to NHAI, it is the duty of NHAI or its contractors to maintain the possession.’’Gadkari had written to Mann last week seeking immediate corrective measures, including the registration of FIRs and strict action against those responsible for the attacks of NHAI officials and contractors, saying that the 293 km of highways would be scrapped if the law and order situation did not improve. “It is pertinent to note that due to pending issues related to land acquisition and the prevailing law and order conditions, concessionaires have requested to foreclose contracts and have raised claims against NHAI. If the situation does not improve, NHAI will have no other option but to cancel/terminate eight other severely affected projects with a total length of 293 km costing Rs14,288 crore,’’ he wrote.
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