Samba, June 01: Apni Party provincial president Jammu and former minister S. Manjit Singh has strongly resented the “forcefully acquiring” the possession of land from the innocent villagers in Samba for the widening and Expressway construction.
Addressing a monthly meeting of Apni Party leaders and workers in Vijaypur, he said, “There is a strong resentment among the people in village Chak Manga Gujjran in Samba where the revenue authorities using the police force took over the possession of the land for NHAI from the poor families.”
“These families were not consulted but they were misled by the administration by calling them to the direct headquarters for a meeting, but did not hold the same. Under the garb of the meeting with the villagers, their land was taken over even after the protest by the women,” he said, citing strong resentment among the villagers in Samba’s various villages.
He said that the anger will burst in the shape of protests across the district for the “injustice” done to the people whose land was taken over and the compensation was accorded less and higher in some cases in the same areas having similar market value.
“Many people who had commercial value properties, and established businesses have lost their source of earning and these families of land owners were given very less in comparison to the market value of the land,” he said.
Highlighting the plight of the people in Samba, he said that “These people have also accused NHAI for discriminating with them as in some areas close to them were given appropriate compensation, but they were declined the same right,” he said.
He said that the villagers of Chak Manga Gujjran have claimed that they were allotted land in 1952 by the government but still, they were not given any kind of compensation nor were they given a chance to represent themselves. “Many villagers whose 200 kanals have been taken over by the authorities for terminal and other construction work for Expressway claimed that they were deceived by the authorities,” he said.
He said the shops on the highway in Samba were also dismantled and the land compensation to the Displaced Persons/Refugees of 1965 and 1971 was not given by the NHAI even as the government had assured them ownership rights on the custodian land.
“The harassment must end and the LG Manoj Sinha should immediately get into the issue,” he said while demanding land compensation at par with the market value for the people whose land was taken over by NHAI.
