Patna: Revenue and land reforms minister Dilip Kumar Jaiswal on Thursday warned officials that delays in land acquisition for key infrastructure projects would not be tolerated and said accountability would be fixed from the deputy collector land reforms (DCLR) level up to divisional commissioners.Reviewing division-wise land acquisition progress, Jaiswal said 349 projects are currently underway across Bihar, for which 45,748 acres have been acquired. More than Rs 30,000 crore has been made available for compensation to affected landowners.He asked divisional commissioners to conduct monthly reviews and resolve bottlenecks by coordinating with district administrations and concerned departments.“The progress of development projects depends directly on the pace of land acquisition. Therefore, negligence at any level will not be tolerated,” he said.According to the department, the highest compensation of Rs 9,502 crore has been paid in Patna division for 66 projects covering 8,023 acres. Tirhut division received Rs 6,692 crore for 91 projects, while Magadh division received Rs 3,534 crore for 29 projects.Compensation has also been paid for projects in Munger, Darbhanga, Bhagalpur, Kosi, Saran and Purnia divisions.Officials present at the meeting included secretary Jai Singh, additional secretary Prashant CH, director (land acquisition) Kamlesh Kumar Singh and other senior officers.
