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The planned 310-km natural gas pipeline project of state-run GAIL (India) Ltd in Tamil Nadu will be brought under the purview of the new land acquisition Act from January 1, 2015 – a year after it comes into effect.
More compensation
This means, compensation for farmers will be increased and brought on par with the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act, according to Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister for Rural Development.
He told newspersons land acquired under 13 other Acts, including National Highways, Railways and Power Transmission and Petroleum & Minerals Pipelines, has been kept out of the purview of the LARR Act.
However, from January 1, 2015, the compensation and land acquisition norms of even these 13 Acts will be on par with those of the LARR Act.
The Tamil Nadu Government has blocked the project stating it could spark farmers’ unrest and large-scale law and order problems in the State.
It made this point in the Madras High Court in a response to a writ petition filed by GAIL challenging the State’s decision not to allow the pipeline to traverse agricultural lands and instead be laid along national highways.
The stretch of the pipeline in the State is part of the 1,146-km Kochi-Bangalore pipeline project being carried out by GAIL.
The objective of the LARR Act, which supersedes the Land Acquisition Act of 1894, is to ensure fair compensation for and resettlement and rehabilitation of those affected, adequate safeguards for their well-being and transparency in the process of land acquisition, Ramesh said.
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