Captain Amarinder orders probe into alleged Mohali airport land acquisition scam
Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has ordered an inquiry into the alleged scam related to land acquisition for the construction of Mohali airport. The Chief Minister said the matter would be thoroughly probed. He was intervening on a call attention notice raised by Mohali MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu regarding embezzlement of crores of rupees in the purchase of the said land at exorbitant rates- almost double the prevailing market rate. The MLA drew the attention of Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa towards the issue, in response to which the minister provided details of the acquisition done during the SAD-BJP rule. In a statement, the minister apprised the House that the previous Government had acquired land of Gram Panchayat, Jheurheri village, for the construction of Airport and the compensation was awarded at the rate of Rs. 1.50 crore per acre. On account of this, a sum of Rs. 80.46 crore was placed at the disposal of Director Rural Development and Panchayats and the said amount was released by him from time to time. Out of this compensation, a sum to the tune of Rs. 54.17 crore was received in lieu of Gram Panchayat Deh and an amount of Rs. 26.31 crore was received in lieu of Shamlat Deh. An amount of Rs. 49.16 crore out of Rs. 54.17 crore was released to Gram Panchayat Jheurheri. The Gram Panchayat Jheurheri utilized Rs. 23.73 crore on purchase of land out of the amount of Rs. 49.16 crore released to the Gram Panchayat. Moreover, the Gram Panchayat did not seek prior approval of the Government before purchasing this land as per the provisions of Section 85 (1) of Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994. In this way, an amount of Rs. 23.73 crore was spent by Gram Panchayat Jheurheri on purchase of land and Rs. 13.77 crore was spent on development and miscellaneous works. An amount of Rs. 11.52 crore is still lying in the account of Gram Panchayat. The Minister also informed the House that an enquiry was being conducted by the Joint Director of the department regarding the amount spent on the purchase of land, its market rate and amounts spent on the development works, which would become clear on completion of the probe. Earlier, Sidhu, in his call attention notice, informed the House that officers of the department did not seek sanction from the competent authority before purchasing this land. He further said the crores of rupees that had been withdrawn were spent only on paper instead of being utilized for actual development works. Thus, he sought a Vigilance enquiry into the matter to ascertain the factual position. —PTC News
