GMADA Begins Acquiring 500 Acres in Mohali’s Sector 101

The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has begun the process of acquisition of 500 acres in Sector 101, two months after a three-member panel placed the said sector in the ‘Red’ category. The development authority will also acquire 250 acres in Sector 103 in a phased manner. GMADA Chief Administrator Pradeep Kumar Agrawal said, “We have already issued the notice under Section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act, inviting objections from the public. We are hopeful of land acquisition by the end of this year. We are also acquiring land in Sector 103 in a phased manner.” The criteria of categorization of industrial sectors has been developed based on their pollution load. The ‘Red’ category industrial sectors, with a pollution index of 60 and above, are the most polluting ones. The other categories, in the ascending order of pollution load, are white (up to 20), green (21-40) and orange (41-59). In August this year, ruling out objections by residents of several villages near Sector 101, a three-member committee had decided to assign the sector to the ‘Red’ category while recommending strict adherence to norms set by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). Another senior GMADA official said, “As Sector 101 is located near the airport, many multinational companies are interested in setting up their units there. The committee has recommended categorising the industrial sector as ‘Red’, as suggested by the PPCB, with strict adherence to all norms.” The GMADA has already started the social impact assessment to acquire 500 acres for industry in Sector 101. Social impact assessment is a process of identification, analysis and assessment of land to be acquired for development of industry. It analyses, monitors and manages the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and negative, of planned interventions (policies, programmes, plans, projects) and any social change processes invoked by those interventions. As per the new policy, the validity of the ‘Sahuliyat Certificate’ given to landowners opting for the land pooling policy and providing certain benefits to them during purchase of equivalent value of land would be counted from the date of allotment of plot to the landowner. The previous validity was two years from the date of announcement of award. Between 2001 and 2017, the GMADA acquired 4,484 acres, 2,145 acres of which were through the land pooling policy, which was introduced in the state in 2008 and has been amended from time to time.