Defence Ministry acquires land in Arunachal Pradesh's border village

NEW DELHI: Amid the border tension with China, the defence ministry has moved to acquire strategic land 30 km from the line of actual control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh to establish a military garrison.

The land parcel, measuring 14.128 acres, is located in the village of Yorni II in West Siang district.

The rural development ministry has notified the defence ministry as “appropriate authority” under Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 for acquisition of the land in the village, which has a population of about 150.


This means that the defence ministry has now been given authority over the land.

According to sources, the move follows a letter from the home ministry advising acquisition of this land for establishing “military garrison and locating various army detachments”.

As per Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, any land can be acquired for defence purposes, railways and communication without the requirement of a gram sabha meeting.

The defence ministry has been gradually acquiring strategic land along the Sino-Indian border over the last few months. This also signals a change in the Centre’s stance towards developing border infrastructure. Earlier, it was felt that border infrastructure, especially roads, would be used by China for an invasion. However, there has been a change in this stance with big land acquisitions, especially in villages along the border.

The current land acquisition follows a similar move in the northeastern border state in October. The ministry had acquired 200 acres of Lungro Grazing ground in Tawang district to develop defence infrastructure. This land in Lungro La Pass was one of the flashpoints during the Sumdorong Chu incident in 1986, when the Indian Army stood up to and thwarted a Chinese bid to occupy territory in Arunachal Pradesh.