The state government has increased by almost hundred times the compensation paid to farmers for getting power transmission towers installed in their agricultural fields.
The new policy will benefit not only the farmers in whose fields the towers are installed, but also the farmers through whose fields the power transmission lines run. The second category of farmers will get enhanced “right of way compensation”. The new policy was notified on February 3.
“According to the new formula for calculating compensation, if the collector rate of the land is Rs 16 lakh per acre, earlier the compensation for a 220 KV power line was Rs 43,000 per km, whereas now it will be around Rs 42 lakh per km. Similarly, the compensation for a 66 KV line was earlier Rs 26,000 per km, which will now be Rs 22 lakh per km,” said a senior official.
According to information available with The Tribune, the farmers will get lump sum compensation of around Rs 125 crore every year. It will majorly benefit farmers over whose fields about 200 km of these high-power transmission lines run, a senior official in the state power department said.
“The compensation for the tower base area shall be 200 per cent of the land value. The tower base area shall be the area enclosed by the four legs of the tower, plus an additional 1 m extension on each side. The compensation for right-of-way (RoW) corridor shall be 30 per cent of the land value… This compensation shall address the potential diminution of land value due to the presence of overhead power lines or underground cables within the RoW corridor. No construction activity will be permitted within the RoW of the transmission line…” reads the new notification.
Officials in the power department said till date the policy was to give compensation only in consonance with the value of land that lay between the four legs of the transmission tower. The compensation allowed was 85 per cent of the per acre collector rate determined for the land. Now, compensation will be 200 per cent of the land value. It will also be provided for one metre wide area around the tower.
The policy was okayed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann before being notified by the power department. This new compensation policy will be applicable prospectively for farmers in whose fields the transmission towers of above 66 KV are installed.
The policy has been brought in to help state power utilities in laying new transmission and distribution lines. Over the years, this had become a major bone of contention between the farmers and the power department, with former objecting to their fields being used for installing power transmission towers or high-power overhead transmission lines running across their fields.
