Trouble brewing for widening of NH169 from Bikarnakatte to Sanoor

Landowners, who alleged that the process of acquiring land for the four-laning of NH169 from Bikarnakatte to Sanoor was in violation of guidelines, have succeeded in bringing a stay to the acquisition process from court.

The farmers in Saloor, Tenka Edapadavu, Puthige, Padumarnadu, Badaga Mijar and Tenka Mijar, who had received notices from land acquisition officials, have got the stay order.

Brijesh Shetty from Mijar, whose land was identified for acquisition, told DH that as per guidelines of Central Valuation Committee (CVC), land extent up to 12.5 cents (rural areas) or less and 20 cents (in Mangaluru city) are to be registered as per 100% conversion rate.

Sale prices of these lands are being excluded while considering the acquisition of land. “These lands must therefore be included while calculating the sale price. The NHAI under the supervision of the previous Special Land Acquisition Officer (SLAO) had sent compensation value for the villages, including the sale prices for 12.5/20 cents in calculations. But the regional officer in his letter dated January 21, 2021, had instructed the project director to exclude the same which resulted in one-third reduction in compensation value, which we are opposing,” Shetty said.

NHAI authorities are following CVC guidelines partially, Shetty charged. "If NHAI authorities consider sale deeds of these 12.5 cents / 20 cents as converted lands, why don’t they include them in the calculation of the sale price of converted lands?" he sought to know.

In Tenka Mijar, compensation for agricultural land per cent was Rs 27,000 and Rs 2.68 lakh per cent for converted land. In Tiruvail, it was one lakh for one cent of agricultural land and Rs 6.98 lakh per cent for converted land.

“The compensation amount being quoted by NHAI is meagre and landowners are expecting fair compensation,” Rashtriya Heddari Bhoomalakara Horata Samiti, NH169- Mangaluru to Sanoor, members said while submitting a representation to Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel.

Landowners also charged that after the government’s 3A notification in 2016, the applications for conversion of lands adjacent to the NH-169 were not accepted citing order from government authorities.

According to NHAI Project Director Shishu Mohan, “The compensation is paid as per CVC guidelines. The work on the highway is expected to begin in October.” As land acquisition officials issues notices, the number of people approaching court is likely to increase.

The four-laning project

The 45-km-long four-laning work was awarded to Dilip Buildcon Private Limited. The stretch will have two flyovers near Kaikamba and Moodbidri and underpasses and two bypasses near Gurpura and Moodbidri.