Old Bhandara Rd widening: NMC resumes process for land acquisition
| Date :10-Feb-2023 |
Staff Reporter
Hopes for widening of Old Bhandara Road have risen again as Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has resumed the process to acquire private properties through mode of negotiation. The civic body has published notice in local newspapers informing property owners to submit their documents and stake a claim by validating their properties. The negotiated settlement on part of NMC offers perhaps a last chance to property owners to submit their say, as after that their will only be compulsory acquisition in which a definite compensation pre-decided by Land Acquisition Authority is awarded. Compared to that in negotiated settlement, higher claim can be sometimes considered, albeit same has to be scrutinised and accepted by Land Acquisition Officer.
As per the plan, the road from Mayo Hospital till Satranjipura Square is proposed to be widened to 18 meters or 60 feets while the stretch from Satranjipura to Sunil Hotel is to be widened to 30 meters around 100 feets. Currently, the road is a narrow strip and traffic-jams have become a routine. The Old Bhandara Road houses some major markets of city, hence number of visitors here is on higher side almost daily and therefore need to widened the stretch was felt since long. There were reports in market that the State Government had released Rs 43 crore for land acquisition. However, when enquired by The Hitavada, Pramod Gawande, Deputy Director, Town Planning, NMC, said that Rs 13.75 crore were received earlier. As of now, the final process of land acquisition has began and property owners are intimated, he added.
Gawande said that the civic body has sought Rs 329 crore from the State Government to complete land acquisition and compensate the owners. He added, District-Level Committee has finalised the compensation payable to land owner. Similarly, the price of standing structure is also notified by the authority. So by March 10, 2023, all the property owners can submit their documents, same will be verified and due compensation as notified will be release to them. Post the deadline, NMC would not entertain any claims from property owners. Perhaps, District Collector might have set aside funds from District Planning Committe (DPC) for purpose of land acquisition on instructions from State Government. NMC said property owners can submit all the listed documents in the notice to office of Deputy Director, Town Planning, 3rd floor, NMC's New Administrative Building, Civil Lines. Also NMC plans to hold camps at Zonal offices for aid of property owners to guide them in putting together all the required papers.
The Old Bhandara Road was earlier National Highway and hence National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has already allocated Rs 100 crore for construction of cement road on the stretch. The construction however could not take off due to non acquisition of private land that forms a substantial part of the road stretch. The compensation would be as per In the said notice, NMC has listed 20 points and asked property owners to take note of the same and submit their documents within a period of one month. Post accepting the compensation on offer, the owners will have to execute a sale deed in name of NMC.
The list of documents sought by NMC includes sale deed/property division document/gift deed/death certificate of original owner, mutation sheet, map of city survey, latest property tax and water payment bill receipts, latest electric bill, nationalised bank account details, pan card, aadhar card, two passport photos, witness documents and photo, lawyer's search report, affidavit on Rs 100 stamp paper, valuation sheet about property from Zone, affidavit about distribution of compensation and its proportion on Rs 100 stamp paper, acceptance letter, zone office report, affidavit from tenants on stamp paper of Rs 100, consent letter. Incidentally, in first round of land acquisition, NMC has distributed compensation to 44 property owners. However as entire process was still on, the said property owners continued to stay put, but gave indication to NMC that if required they would hand over the possession.
Since NMC does not have that much surplus cash at its disposal, the remaining land acquisition process remained incomplete putting citizens in distress.
