TEAM HERALD
OLD GOA: Citing the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Settlement Act, 2013, villager Shyamsundas Kamat claimed that the process of land acquisition for the Bainguinim project has lapsed since not a single party has been paid compensation even after more than five years since the acquisition process started.
Kamat, who said that he lost a huge chunk of land during the acquisition, further informed that if the parties are not paid compensation even after five years, Section 24(2) of the Act states that the land acquisition process is deemed as lapsed.
“On the mode of payment of compensation, the Act clearly states that the government has to pay directly to the party or deposit the amount in the court,” Kamat added while stating that in the case of Baiguinim land acquisition, the government has neither paid the parties nor deposited any amount in the court.
“In such a scenario, the acquisition process lapses and the government has to restart the process of land acquisition for the Bainguinim waste plant,” Kamat said while informing that with the implementation of the Land Acquisition Act, the government will have to shell out huge amount of money just to acquire the land, which itself will serve as a deterrent.
“When the land was acquired, the amount was put at Rs 4 crore and if fresh acquisition process is started, the government will have to shell out over Rs 200 crore,” he added.
