The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has directed that land acquisition for the ambitious dedicated freight corridor project of the railways to be speeded up.
Nearly 11,000 hectares of land are required for this mega project which envisages the construction of the eastern and western rail freight corridors straddling at least eight states in the country. Touted as the biggest such project in the world, its cost for now is estimated to be a whopping Rs 76,000 crore. When completed, it is not only expected to transform the transportation scenario in the country but also help the railways generate much-needed revenue.
The PMO’s instructions on speedy land acquisition came during a review meeting of the project recently. Clearly, the PMO’s views on land acquisition are at variance with those of Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee who had put a spoke in the wheels of land acquisition for the project last year on the grounds that her party is opposed to any “forcible acquisition”.
Ms Mamata Banerjee had ordered a “review” of the railways land acquisition policy leading to a temporary halt to the process of land acquisition for the project. While this process later resumed, railway officials admitted that given the country’s land acquisition laws, it will take between two to three years for land to be acquired. Land for this gargantuan project will entail its acquisition over six states, 52 districts and 2,500 villages in the country, according to DFCC officials.
Said a DFCC official: “Land acquisition is a time consuming process. India is not like China where you can bull-doze people and grab their land. We have set, defined laws for taking over somebody’s land. The law provides for a minimum two years for land acquisition.”