Highway eviction halt with eye on poll

The bridge on the Mechi river near the Indo-Nepal border at Panitanki,
on the outskirts of Siliguri, will be the northern end of the Asian Highway II. 

Avijit Sinha, TT, Siliguri, Sept. 30: The laying of an 18km stretch of Asian Highway II in Darjeeling district has not started as hundreds of squatters on government land on either side of NH31C between Panitanki and Bagdogra have not been removed after being given compensation.

The Darjeeling district administration that disbursed the compensation in the past two-three months among the people who had encroached on the land along the highway has not taken any initiative to evict them.

"We have carried out a comprehensive survey and found that around 3,900 people who are squatting on government land in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts need to be evicted for the project. Accordingly, their losses were assessed on the basis of several parameters and it was found that around Rs 32 crore had to be paid as compensation in Darjeeling district," said an official of the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of the highway project, formed with officers and engineers of the state PWD.

The amount was paid to the Darjeeling district administration which has already disbursed around Rs 22 crore among the affected people.

The entire stretch of the highway between Panitanki and Fulbari (on India-Bangladesh border) is 37.271km.

"We don't have to acquire land along the 18km stretch from Panitanki to Bagdogra. But the squatters are still on the highway land even after receiving compensation and there is no initiative by the administration to remove them. This has prevented the commencement of the construction," said the official.

The Asian Highway II is a 13,177km road that would connect Indonesia with China. In north Bengal, a 37km-long stretch of the highway would pass through Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, connecting Panitanki with Fulbari (on the India-Bangladesh boundary.

According to sources in the state PWD, the government is soft on the squatters because of the coming Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad polls.

"As these people reside in different villages in the SMP area, the ruling party does not want to antagonise them before the rural polls. We are keeping our fingers crossed and hope that after the rural polls, the district administration acts and removes the squatters," said a PWD official.

"The project will suffer a setback if the state delays action further ahead of the Assembly polls next year," he added.

Officials engaged in the project couldn't immediately say the exact number of squatters along the 18km stretch.

Officials in Darjeeling district administration, when asked about the squatters on the government land, said they were holding meetings on the issue.

"Regular review meetings are held with officials of the PIU, state PWD and other departments concerned," an official, who did not wanted to be named, said. "Compensation has been paid to most of the people."

Nearly 10 hectares of land have to be acquired for the highway in north Bengal.

"We have prepared a list of around 104 people who own land on various stretches of the highway. They would be paid as per the central act (two times the market price if the land is in urban area and four times if it is in rural area) and the estimated compensation in Darjeeling district is around Rs 33 crore," an official said.