Farmers to get ‘right of way’ for laying irrigation pipes
The Punjab Cabinet today gave its nod to an amendment to the existing law to grant “right of way” to farmers to lay underground irrigation pipelines through the land of their neighbours.
A meeting chaired by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh approved Section 14-A in Chapter III in the Punjab Land Improvement Schemes Act, 1963.
A spokesperson said the amendment would allow farmers to get compensation for crop or structural damage. Land owners did not allow underground pipeline through their land depriving farmers having land located on the other side of irrigation facilities.
Farmers with a single source of irrigation and fragmented agricultural land holdings were the worst affected. Absence of legal rights on this count was also holding up several major government-funded projects, he said.
A committee, headed by the Deputy Commissioner, calculated the compensation to be paid to the land holder, he said. —TNS