The Supreme Court (SC) has paved the way for the government to distribute compensation for the land it acquired from the general public for expansion of road and other development constructions.
The joint bench of justices Ishwor Khatiwada and Ananda Mohan Bhattarai delivered the verdict on the writ petition filed by Santwana Subedi and Sunita Poudel. The seven-page verdict in the case was made public a week ago.
"People receiving compensation for their land can be classified based on who are affected by the road expansion project in the matter of who and how the compensation will be received," the verdict reads, "For instance, those people whose all properties and homes have been acquired during the road expansion project will be kept on the top of the priority list rather than those who are least affected by the project. "
The SC, earlier, issued order to resume the road expansion drive only after distributing the compensation. However, the governmental bodies stalled the project citing that distributing compensation would require big budget which it lacks.
The apex court has made it clear on how to categorize the affected families for distributing compensation in its recent verdict.
"Criteria can be made on the issues related to what percentage of land will be confiscated, financial benefits of remaining land after the land confiscation," the verdict reads.
The verdict also states other ways of disbursing the compensation can also be found by acknowledging about the affects on the landowners while preparing the detailed project report (DPR) by the project.
"On the basis of economic index, the positive consequences in the life standard of people living nearby the road due to road expansion can be evaluated. Similarly, the social and environmental affects can also be evaluated. By evaluating these aspects, economic aspect of the project will be further clear if the expenditure and profit ratio of the project can be taken out." reads the verdict.
