Land Act a hurdle to DDA’s land acquisition
Delhi Development Authority (DDA) now face a problem with the recent land act. So DDA has written to Ministry of Urban Development asking to be exempted from ‘the right to fair compensation in land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement act, 2013’. DDA has planned many infrastructure projects and acquiring small size plots for the public purpose is an issue due to the recent land act. DDA is also planning to table a proposal for amendment in the existing Delhi Development Act, facilitating smooth functioning of land acquisition at negotiable rates. They plan to discuss certain amendments for the same on July 8th.
There are many infrastructure proposals for which the government needs to acquire some small land pockets. But following the procedure mentioned in the recent land act will only lead to the delay of the project for several months or even years. The current land acquisition act is a time-consuming lengthy process for acquiring even small pockets of land.
The Land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement act, 2013 has come into effect in the January of this year. According to DDA officials, this Act is fair for acquisition of huge land pockets but not for acquiring small pockets of land. In the case of small land pockets the local development authority should be given permission to acquire land through negotiations alone rather than following the complete procedure.
So DDA authority plans to have an amendment in the DD Act empowering the Delhi Development Authority to acquire small land pockets through negotiations. This is a very important step due to the recent land pooling act by DDA. There can be a small pocket of land which may not be included in the process of land pooling, but needs to be acquired for the project. In that case, if the land is acquired through the new Land Act process, the overall project timeline may get extended and delayed. The main aim of land pooling act is to encourage private developers in development of residential sectors which has been purely DDA’s job.
