Ranchi: Come November 15, the state will proudly lay the foundation stone of two flyovers in the capital city, but land acquisition for the ambitious projects remains a distant dream.
An official at the district collectorate readily pointed out the double standard. During construction of a house, he said, the government first seeks land documents. "How come foundation of projects will be laid when there is no land in possession for the same?" he asked.
General manager Ramdev Sinha of Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (JUIDCO), the project implementing agency, conceded that land acquisition was pending. "That is not our concern. The district administration will work out compensation details and acquire land," Sinha said.
Land acquisition officer of Ranchi district Seema Singh claimed the process of acquisition would be completed within three months. "We have started work in Kantatoli area," she said.
According to JUDICO officials, around 20.277 decimal of government land and 450.38 decimal of private land are required for the 1,250-metre Kantatoli-Booty Road flyover, which is expected to cost around Rs 37 crore.
For the proposed 2.34km Harmu flyover - starting from LPN Nath Shahdeo Chowk on Kanke Road to Kartik Oraon Chowk in Harmu and involving Rs 121 crore - 246.056 decimal government and 296.028 decimal private land need to be earmarked.
"Getting government land is not a problem, but acquiring private land has always been a challenging work in this state. Convincing owners to amicably part with their land can be quite a task even if proper compensation is offered," a JUIDCO official said, requesting anonymity.
The official added that if there was delay in land acquisition, the projects would be delayed too. "Most importantly, if land acquisition is not proper, plans and designs will have to be altered later on, which may cause inordinate delays. As of now, the deadline for the projects is 24 months."
Municipal commissioner Shantanu Agrahari, who had chaired a marathon meeting with power and road construction engineers, besides JUIDCO, on Monday, could not be contacted on Tuesday.