The district administration has to acquire 3,375 hectares of land for 10 key infrastructure projects in PMR.
This was stated in a detailed report that the district administration prepared last week and shared with the state and central governments. Among the 10 key infrastructure projects in the Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR) are the three Metro lines and the proposed ring road, besides the national highways and Pune-Nashik semi-high speed rail project. The report, however, does not mention about the proposed Purandar airport, for which the notification is yet to be issued.
A senior official from the district administration’s land acquisition department said, “Land acquisition is in progress at 303 villages in 12 of the total 15 talukas in the district. Of the total 3,375 hectares, measurement has been completed for 2,932 hectares.”
Another official said, “The report has been prepared to come up with a consolidated status of land acquisition to be carried out in the district for various projects. We have readied the details of land acquisition to be carried out for all the major projects that have both central and state funding. The report was part of a presentation before the finance minister.”
The report stated that land acquisition was almost complete for the national highways, Pune-Miraj rail lines and the MahaMetro projects. The official said Rs1,630 crore has been distributed as compensation – with the amounts coming either from the Centre or the state – in the past two years.
The official said, “The detailed assessment gives a clear picture on the compensation distributed for various land acquisition. In some cases, 70% of the compensation have been distributed. Compensation amounts are awaited for some projects.”
Some projects in the district had taken time due to opposition from some of the villages. “The compensation amount of Rs1,500 crore for land acquisition for the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited’s ring road which was allotted by the state government is yet to be completely received,” an official said.
