‘Issue re-notification for NH 169 widening’

Bhoomalikarugala Horata Samithi has urged the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to issue re-notification for acquisition of land for four-laning of
National Highway 169, connecting Mangaluru to Moodbidri.

Speaking to mediapersons, Samithi President Mariamma Thomas said the NHAI had issued a gazette notification for acquiring land for the road under Section 3 (1) of National Highway Act on October 26, 2018.

As per the Act, the final notification should have been issued for the land acquisition after hearing the objections from land owners within an year of issuing primary notification. Accordingly, the final notification should have been issued on October 25, 2019, she added.

“As the NHAI had failed to issue the final notification under Section 3 (D) of the NH Act within an year, the primary notification of October 26, 2018 becomes invalid.”

Mariamma said accordingly, re-notification should be issued. Notices should be served to all the land owners, including subdivision, in a survey number.

The NHAI should adhere to the procedure of the land acquisition and then acquire land, she added.

“We are not against road widening. We want the procedures to be followed and those who lose land should get fair compensation as under the present guideline value of the land,” Mariamma demanded.

Citing an example, she said the value of the land at Padavu was Rs 8,000 per square metre in 2018. Now, the guideline value has reached Rs 24,000 per square metre. “Why should the land owners get less price for the land acquired?” she asked.

Stating that Mangaluru Special Land Acqusition officer had not considered the objections filed by the land losers and had also overruled the objections, she said there was a conspiracy to issue final notification under Section 3 (D) of NH Act citing previous date now.

If the authorities issue final notification citing previous date by flouting the rules, then the Samithi will approach the court, she said

“If the authorities fail to consider our demand, then we will not hand over our land for road work,” Mariamma said and alleged that joint measurement survey for acquiring the land was not carried out properly.

“All the land owners in a survey number whose land will be acquired, have not been served notices. As a result, many are unaware as how much land will be acquired for the road widening work,” she said.

It may be recalled that the authorities had planned to acquire 180 hectares of land for four-laning of the NH 169 (Kulshekar-Moodbidri-Karkala, covering a distance of 45 km).

The proposal on upgrading Kulshekar-Moodbidri highway had been moving at a snail’s pace for the past six to seven years.