Hyderabad: In the first phase of the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway M-6 project, the acquisition of 631 acres of land has commenced in taluka Matiari.
A ceremony for distribution of awards was held at the latif hall of the deputy commissioner office in Matiari, where landowners were presented awards the deputy commissioner (DC) Muhammad Yousuf Shaikh and Assistant Commissioner Abdul Sattar Shaikh.
According to a handout, DC Yousuf Shaikh while speaking during the event, said that a total of 1,629 acres of land would be acquired for the project, including 631 acres in Matiari, 413 acres in Hala and 583 acres in Saeedabad.
He explained that the cost of land has been divided into 3 categories, for which a demand of 5.63 billion rupees was made from the National Highway Authority, out of which we got 4.09 billion rupees, in which there was misappropriations.
He said that we had Rs2 billion in reserve, of which we got a profit of 704.7 million rupees from the banks, which we deposited in the treasury office. The De
puty Commissioner said that we need 2.58 billion rupees for the purchase of land in 15 areas of taluka Matiari.
He stated that for further land acquisition, a request has been made to the National Highway Authority (NHA) to release the funds that were recovered by NAB after the corruption scandal, so that the land can be purchased and handed over to the NHA.
DC mentioned that to assess the damage to crops, tube wells, buildings and trees on the land, officials from the Forest, Agriculture, Tube Well Division and Building Division have been included in the committee. He also warned that any harassment of landowners by revenue or treasury office staff would lead to strict legal action, including termination of employment, while payments to landowners will be made exclusively through the District Accounts Office/Treasury via National Bank.
The DC revealed that certain government lands had been illegally transferred to private individuals during the previous time. Efforts were underway to cancel those transfer
s, he said. The program was attended by Assistant Commissioner Hala, Dr Mazhir Ali, officials from the National Highway Authority and landowners.