Environment and Forests and Land Management Minister Nabam Rebia called on Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at her office in New Delhi on Thursday and apprised her of issues pertaining to acquisition of land in Arunachal Pradesh for defence purposes.
He reminded the Defence Minister that her intervention was required for settling all the pending land acquisition cases in Arunachal Pradesh, which she had assured during her last visit to the State on December 5, 2017.
Rebia informed the minister that the Army initially takes up land acquisition matters very proactively but backtracks during finalisation and decisions are delayed due to which the State Government, particularly the officers involved in land acquisition process, get “highly discouraged”.
While handing over the DO letter of Chief Minister Pema Khandu regarding land acquisition for establishment of an Army base at Gumto in Papum Pare district, for which an area of 661.9 acres had been identified by the Army in 2008, Rebia said the State Government had issued a notification on December 25, 2015 but the issue has been “pending”.
Rebia requested that Sitharaman expedite the matter “on priority”. She assured to look into the matter and take appropriate action.
