Dumka, June 10: Fresh trouble is brewing on tracks.
The state revenue department has objected to the discrepancies in the compensation for the land acquired to complete the proposed extension of the Mandalhill-Rampurhat railway line via Dumka. Sources in the railway said the project could be delayed due to bureaucratic high-handedness.
The revenue secretary has raised the issue at a time when the Dumka administration has cleared all compensation payment to local landowners, whose land was earlier acquired for the project.
The railways have been working overtime to meet its 2007 target. Digging for the extension of the new rail link between Deoghar and Dumka and from Mandarhill to Rampurhat via Dumka and the construction of the new railway station at Dumka are almost through.
The district administration received the state revenue secretary’s letter last week, which alleged that the local land acquisition department failed to provide uniform compensation to landowners.
It also directed the authorities concerned to verify the payment rates and conduct a fresh inquiry into the allegations before handing over the land to the railways.
According to sources, the process would be lengthy and time-consuming.
“The probe will be conducted by government officials and the report has to be sent for approval. It will take at least two years to complete the formalities of land transfer,” said a local official.
Expressing fear over the delay in the revaluation process, sources in the railway said, “As the deputy commissioner is responsible for fixing the compensation rates, it will take time for the files to move,” a railway official said.
Earlier, six notifications for land acquisition were issued in which 46 mouzas (revenue villages) were declared “awarded”. Similarly, for the Deogahr-Dumka railway extension work, 35 out of 51 mouzas were already declared “awarded”. The plots have been handed over the railway after compensating the landowners.
The revenue secretary has ordered that a fresh inquiry should be conducted by the circle officer concerned and the deputy commissioner into the acquisition of 1,000 acres of land for the Mandarhill-Rampurhat project and nearly 400 acres on the Dumka-Deoghar site.