New Delhi, June 17: In keeping with the Supreme Court's emphasis on rehabilitation of Narmada dam oustees, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said his government was working expeditiously as per the apex court's directive.
"Keeping the Supreme Court directive in mind, we are working for the rehabilitation of the dam oustees. Work on rehabilitating 24,000 affected families is underway," he said
answering questions at a press conference here.
He said 75 of the 85 sites earmarked for rehabilitation
of affected families had already been developed and work on
the remaining will be completed soon.
Chouhan said since some land offered as compensation was
not cultivable, the government had decided to give alternative
land to the oustees as per their choice at the rate of rs.2.80
lakh per hectare, which will be borne by the state.
He said some 5,000 families had decided to settle in Gujarat and necessary steps were being taken in this regard.
The Supreme Court had on April 17 said construction work on the project should go on side by side with effective rehabilitation of the affected people.
The Chief Minister said development work was on in full swing in the state and special thrust was being given to development of infrastructure.
He said 22,000 km of roads will be laid in the state in
the next two and a half years, while 3,600 mw of additional
power will be generated in the next three years from thermal
and hydel projects.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, June 17, 2006, 00:00