Delhi requires power to acquire land: Lieutenant governor

NEW DELHI: Joining the chorus for a review of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013, Delhi government has put forth before the Centre the urgent need to empower Delhi with the powers to acquire land. All new infrastructure projects that require land acquisition cannot take off till the Centre delegates powers to Delhi which falls under the category of union territory under the Act that came into force earlier this year on January 1.

With Delhi under President's Rule, the lieutenant governor represented the capital at the revenue ministers' conference at Vigyan Bhavan on Friday to discuss issues related to the implementation of Act. At the conference, the Delhi LG pointed that the Delhi government has already taken up the matter of delegation of powers with the Ministry of Home Affairs and implementation will begin after the Centre empowers the state.

Since January 1, the Capital has not initiated the process for any fresh land acquisition. As a result, there's a shadow of uncertainty over at least 15 development projects in Delhi, besides the Metro's expansions plans. Some of the works that have run into the new law include acquisition of land to speed up completion of the grade separator at Rani Jhansi Road low-cost housing for relocation and rehabilitation of urban poor under JNNURM a government school in Beharipur a hospital in Karol Bagh an open jail in Baprola road widening in Bhajanpura and an approach road in Bakarwala.