NEW DELHI: To mitigate delays and additional financial burdens, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has come up with a timeline for smooth land acquisition. The agency has made provisions for issuance of draft notification, its submission to the Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA), actual possession and mutation. There are provisions for monitoring the land transfer process by the senior officials weekly and fortnightly. The schedule has been prepared considering the window of 21 days available to the land owners during which they can object to the land acquisition notice. The land is acquired by the NHAI as per the National Highways Act 1956 and 21-day period from date of publication of the notification in newspapers is stipulated to file objections. According to the officials, this window was not being utilised optimally hence delaying the acquisition thus resulting in cost escalation. The issue was deliberated and then the suggestion to formulate an indicative timeline corresponding to take over the land with mutation was approved to expedite the process. Several projects remain stuck for long because the authorities did not get possession of land required on time. The timeline stipulates number of days for submission of draft to CALA, uploading of draft 3D proposal on ‘Bhoomi Rashi’ portal, publication of gazette, securing Right of Way, declaration of award, disbursement of compensation, possession and mutation. The completion of the series of activities should be done in 336 days.
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