Land Owners want Rs 1.92 Crore Per Acre Compensation for land to be acquired by MRPL
Mangaluru: While the third meeting of fixation of land price, earlier the Owners of land being acquired for the fourth phase expansion of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) have demanded that the government give a compensation of Rs 1.92 crore per acre as reportedly promised. In a memorandum submitted to Minister for Large and Medium Industries K.J. George, the land owners, under the aegis of Samyukta Nagarika Hitarakshana Samiti, said that if it is difficult to award the same amount, then the government should drop the land acquisition process.
Ronald Fernandes and Deepak Permude, President and Secretary of the Samiti respectively, have said, in the memorandum submitted on Saturday, that before issuing the preliminary land acquisition notification, MRPL and ONGC officials met each one of the land losers and assured them of paying compensation as per the package fixed by the State government. This led to more than 70 % of land owners giving conditional approval for acquisition of their land. Similarly, owners gave conditional approval for the final notification of land acquisition.
At the time of joint measurement of land, a meeting was held between Special Land Acquisition Officer, officials of MRPL and Samiti members wherein the latter were assured of payment of compensation that will be four times the market value of the land. The officials then promised that land losers will get around Rs 80 lakh-Rs 1.2 crores per acre as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013.
In meetings on September 20 and 29, 2018 to fix land rate, discussions were held to pay compensation ranging between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 55 lakhs as per the old guidelines. Fernandes and Permude said that land losers should not be denied their rightful compensation. The Samiti members will be attending the third meeting of the price fixation committee on Monday. Meanwhile, Additional Deputy Commissioner Kumar told media that rates of land were being fixed village-wise by taking into consideration the prevailing market value and also the compensation paid earlier for acquiring land in the area for other projects.
Portion of Land around MRPL
The State government issued preliminary notification in January 2017 for acquiring 1,050 acres of land in Kuthettur, Permude, Tenka Yekkar, Mulur and Kandavara villages. Land was sought by MRPL for expanding its production capacity, including setting up units for production of BS VI grade fuel. The final notification was issued for acquisition of 962 acres of land of which 824 acres was privately owned. The process is now on to fix rates for 824 acres of land.
Inputs from The Hindu-Mangalore Edition