Land acquisition for rail line to be completed in one-and-a-half years.

Railway Horata Samithi president P. Kodandramaiah has said that the process of land acquisition for the Tumakuru-Chitradurga-Davangere direct railway line project would be completed in the next one-and-a-half years.

Speaking to reporters here on Monday, he said that the officers concerned assured a recent meeting of completing the process of land acquisition in the next one-and-a-half years and start work on the project.

It was also revealed in the meeting that Tumakuru Deputy Commissioner Mohanraj has acquired land from Tumakuru city to Urukere village required for the project and released compensation to farmers.

The acquired land has been handed over to the Railway department. The process of acquiring land for the project from Sira to Timmarajankere is under progress and it would be completed by the end of May this year.

Compensation would be given to farmers immediately after the acquisition process is completed, he added.

The officers concerned in Chitradurga have promised that land acquisition would be completed in one-and-a-half years and such land would be handed over to the Railway department.

The officers in Davangere district have also said that they would hand over land to Railway department by that time, he said.

Since there were allegations that the officers concerned have changed the route of the railway line following interference from some politicians, the samithi has written to the Minister concerned urging him not to change the route.

“The Minister has been urged to continue the project on the scheduled route only as the new route proposed by the officers would not be of any use to the people in the region,” he added.

He said that there have been complaints that some middlemen were trying to exploit farmers by promising them more compensation for the land they would lose to the project, but the farmers should understand the fact that there will not be any interference by middlemen in allotting compensation and the decision of the officers concerned would be final.

THE HINDU