Firstly, two Mizoram landowners will be compensated for the same plots

The two landowners will get Rs 110 crore. (Representative)

Aizawl:

For the first time, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) would provide compensation to two parties claiming the same plots for construction of a four-lane highway between Vairentte and Sairang in Mizoram, officials said here on Sunday. .

A Mizoram government official said the breakthrough on the long-pending compensation dispute issue was reached during a meeting between the Chief Minister and Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in Delhi last week.

The proposed 132 km four-lane highway between Vairengte, near the Assam border, and Sairang, near Aizawl, is a very vital overground link between the Mizoram capital and the rest of the country. The double-lane highway is now connected to National Highway-306 via Assam.

“Due to the long-pending impasse over compensation to two landowners of the same land, work on the proposed four-lane highway connecting Vairengte and Sairang could not start for years,” the official said.

Confirming the MoRTH’s decision to pay compensation to two landowners for the same plot of land, the Chief Minister also said that the Central government has agreed to pay compensation to both the landowners and also to the state’s Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change .

He said the Forest Department would get Rs 90 crore as compensation while two landowners would get Rs 110 crore.

Work on the proposed four-lane highway was postponed due to unresolved land ownership claims between landowners and the forestry department.

The Chief Minister stated that during his meeting with the Union Minister last week, he had informed the Central Minister that construction of a four-lane highway between Vairengte and Sairang could not be initiated as deforestation could also not be are obtained.

The Supreme Court had earlier directed the Mizoram chief secretary to find an alternative solution to the highway construction problem.

Lalduhoma said that while there is no policy to award compensation to two parties claiming the same plot of land, he had requested Nitin Gadkari to award compensation to both parties.

“The minister assured that Rs 90 crores would be given as compensation to the Forest Department while an amount of Rs 110 crores would be allocated to the land owners with valid documents,” the Chief Minister said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)