The land reverification process for the Lada-Sarli Frontier Highway has been completed even as a social activist from East Kameng district raised serious concerns over alleged irregularities in land compensation and incomplete verification of one project package. Social activist Sol Dodum, who has been pursuing the issue of an alleged land compensation scam linked to the highway project, had earlier demanded reverification of land records. He expressed dissatisfaction with the process and questioned why Package 1 of the project was not reverified along with the other packages. Dodum alleged that the state government had mishandled the land compensation amount provided by the central government. He claimed that the compensation actually received by project-affected people was much lower than the amount sanctioned by the Centre.
According to him, compensation rates for land, bamboo, trees and other assets were shown as high on paper but were not implemented during the actual transfer of money to beneficiaries. He urged the reverification committee to submit a truthful report and not a misleading one. Dodum further stated that nearly 99 per cent of the highway-affected area falls under jhum cultivation and said this ground reality must be clearly reflected in the official report. He also questioned the state government’s claim of providing double compensation to landowners, alleging that people were receiving less than what was promised. “The amount requested by the state government from the Centre is never disclosed, and landowners are paid less than what they are entitled to,” he said, adding that failure to address these issues could lead to the project being halted.
He claimed that only four out of the five land compensation packages under the highway project had been reverified, leaving Package 1 untouched. Dodum alleged that funds meant for Packages 2 and 3 were earlier diverted to Package 1 by former district officials.Dodum also criticised Arunachal West MP Kiren Rijiju over the non-verification of Package 1, stating that the area covered under the package is dominated by the Miji community.
