‘Transfer of land acquisition powers may delay Pinjore-Parwanoo bypass project’

“As there was no regular DRO at Panchkula,the government,in order to avoid delay in the disbursement of payments for the land acquisition process,decided to transfer the powers (of land acquisition) from the DRO to the LAO. Now,when all the files and documents have reached the LAO to start the process of disbursement of payments,the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials claim that no official other than the DRO could carry out the work,” said Deputy Commissioner (Panchkula) Pankaj Yadav.

The NHAI officials further claimed that the National Highway Act,1956,mandates that for disbursement of payments,the only competent authority is the office of the DRO,said Yadav.

“They (NHAI) have requested the Haryana Government to appoint a regular DRO for Panchkula. The process of appointing a regular DRO is expected to result in further delay in the land acquisition process for the Pinjore-Parwanoo bypass,” added the DC.

Talking to Newsline,an official with JP Associates,the company carrying out work on the Zirakpur-Parwanoo four laning project on behalf of NHAI,said: “The NHAI had released the funds to the Panchkula Administration for disbursement of payments in February. Nothing,however,has been done till date.

Because of this 5-month delay,there is already a lack of continuity in the construction of the bypass. The shuttling of power from one official to another will cause further delay.”