AIZAWL, Oct 27: Mizoram chief minister Lalduhoma has expressed optimism that widening work of a national highway will commence soon and the compensation for those who would be affected by the project will be settled shortly as the central fund is expected for the same.
He said the Centre had agreed to provide Rs 1,190 crore to both the state forest department and land owners as compensation for the widening of the national highway, a part of which is known as NH-6 and the other portion as NH-306.
The national highway is the primary lifeline of Mizoram linking the northeastern state with the rest of the country through Assam.
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The Centre approved the widening project of NH-306 along with NH-6 into four lanes a few years ago but it could not be implemented due to issues over compensation and ownership of land along the highways.
Lalduhoma, who returned to Aizawl on Saturday after a week-long tour to the national capital, told reporters that he recently took part in the review meetings for highways chaired by Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.
The chief minister said he also separately met the union minister over the challenges, including compensation issues, in the execution of the highway-widening project.
He said the project could not be implemented for a long time due to forest clearance issues and disputes over ownership of land and compensation between the state forest department and landowners along the NH-6 and NH-306 between Vairengte and Sairang.
“The forest department claims certain areas of land on either side of the highway as roadside reserve forest, which is true. On the other hand, some people claim that they also legally owned the plots as they pay taxes and possess valid documents,” Lalduhoma said.
“We urged the union minister to give compensation to both the parties to ensure that the long-pending issues are resolved and the project is commenced,” he said.
Lalduhoma said Gadkari agreed to pay Rs 90 crore to the forest department and another Rs. 1,100 crore to the land owners for the highway project, and asserted that such an arrangement has been made for the first time.
Last month, over 2,000 landowners along NH-6 and NH-306 had staged demonstrations demanding that land ownership issues be resolved. (PTI)
