Keonjhar: An alleged nexus between land owners and the revenue department has made the state government incur losses to the tune of crores of rupees. The irregularity has happened during acquisition of land for construction of a bypass road in the heart of this town, a report said.
While sale and purchase of land is not permitted during land acquisition for any project, blatant violation of this norm was detected in the town, according to information received through RTI Act.
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) published an advertisement in 2013 for acquisition of land in the town for construction of a bypass road of the NH-49. A draft containing all the land of Keonjhar tehsil, required to be acquired, was part of the release. In that advertisement Plot no-139 under Khuntapada unit of Baniapata was coming under Sarada-II kisam (agricultural land). Change in category of land is not allowed after publication of 3-A advertisement for land acquisition.
However, another notification was published in 2015 which showed the classification of the same plot as Gharabari (homestead land). This pointed figure at the alleged nexus between the land owner and revenue officials as the bench price of homestead lands is always fixed much higher than that of agricultural land.
The same plot was reportedly sold twice leading to huge revenue loss by the government, it was learnt.
It was alleged that the classification of the land has changed overnight to increase the valuation.
While it takes several months for a common man to convert a land variety, in the above case all the procedures – obtaining no objection certificate from town planning department, permission for deposit of conversion charges and order for conversion of land – were completed within a fortnight.
After change of classification of the land, the land owner got compensation of Rs 7 crore (though the authorities concerned recommended Rs 22 crore) for a small patch of land admeasuring only 9 decimal that too without having any approach road to the plot.
Locals suspected irregularities in the process and demanded a thorough analysis of the reports submitted by the amin, revenue inspector and supervisors to bring the truth to the fore.
On the other hand, the role of NHAI also came under scanner. The authority has unnecessarily incorporated several curves in the design of the bypass road which has increased its length by seven kilometers, locals alleged and demanded a vigilance or crime branch probe into the incident.
When contacted, NHAI project director in Keonjhar R Hardas said land conversion should not be allowed after public notification. The matter would be investigated, he added.
Special land acquisition officer Santosh Nayak said concerned departments are informed after publication of 3-A notification which prevents conversion. As the tehsil office is involved in the process, a probe in later stage would reveal the irregularities, added Nayak. PNN
