After making a statement in the Punjab and Haryana High Court that it has decided to allot alternative sites to those landowners who had not yet accepted the monetary compensation for their land acquired in Sectors 76 to 80,to develop an urban estate,the Punjab government seems to have taken a U-turn. In an affidavit filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court,the government has washed its hands of any decision on this and left it to the Council of Ministers. The affidavit has been filed by K S Sra,Additional Secretary,Housing and Urban Development Department of Punjab,on behalf of the Secretary,Housing and Urban Development department. With this,the eight-year-old wait of the remaining allottees of plots in the urban estate has only got longer. A four-member committee was formed by the High Court on July 22 last year to suggest how the matter could be solved. The affidavit filed on Wednesday reads: The committee was inclined to the proposal,but it noted that the Council of Ministers in its meeting dated August 21,2008,had decided that the Land Pooling Scheme shall be introduced with prospective effect. In addition,the committee felt that one cannot rule out the possibility of other land owners,who are already demanding an enhancement in the compensation amount,subsequently seeking similar benefits. Any action in this case may also have an effect on other pending land acquisition cases. The committee,therefore,considered it imperative that the entire matter needs to be placed before the Council of Ministers,the affidavit reads further. The committee comprising Advocate General H S Mattewal,Chief Secretary Ramesh Inder Singh,Housing Secretary Arun Goel and Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) Chief Administrator Vivek Pratap Singh met on February 1. Granting time till March 16 to take a final decision,the High Court has made it clear that if the Punjab government fails to take any action,the court will decide the issue on merit. During the last hearing on January 23,the Punjab government made a statement that it had decided to allot alternative sites to those landowners who had not yet accepted the monetary compensation,subject to certain terms and conditions. The GMADA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development had strongly disapproved the move,terming it unviable. Besides involving a financial burden of Rs 500 crore,which both the agencies had refused to bear,the proposed undue favour to appease a handful of farmers was likely to further complicate the litigation. The Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority had acquired nearly 1,400 acres in 2001 to develop the urban estate in Sectors 76 to 80. While the owners of over 1,200 acres of the acquired land had accepted the monetary compensation,that of over 100 acres had challenged the acquisition by rejecting the compensation,calling it meagre. With the court restraining any activity on the disputed land spread across almost all the sectors,the allottees of over 1,400 plots are still awaiting possession even eight years after receiving the letters of intent. Over 2,500 of the total 3,931 carved out plots were,however,issued allotment letters in 2008 and 2007.
