Chandigarh: The Punjab Cabinet has okayed placement of the Amritsar Walled City (Recognition of Usage) Ordinance 2017 before the Vidhan Sabha for enactment. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh here on Monday morning. A spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office said that the Amritsar Walled City (Recognition of Usage) Ordinance 2017, promulgated by the Punjab Governor, provides for the applicants to submit details of violations in the Walled city of Amritsar for one-time settlement by January 31, 2018. 

Under the proposed legislation, Sections 3 (2) and 5 of Amritsar Walled City (Recognition of Usage) Act 2016 will be suitably amended. In another decision, the Cabinet also gave concurrence to introduce draft Bill on the Punjab Land Improvement Schemes Act (Amendment) Bill, 2017, for insertion of new Section 14-A: "Laying of underground pipes of repair, renovation of existing underground pipelines through any other land holdings" in Chapter-III, Punjab Act No.23 of 1963, in the current Punjab Vidhan Sabha session for enactment. 

The amended Act shall grant legal right to the Soil and Water Conservation department and the farmers to lay underground irrigation pipelines in the land of other land holders at a depth of 3 feet beneath the surface of land, as per demarcated line on payment of compensation arising out of crop damage or damage to any structure as per prevailing market rates. A district-level committee under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner and comprising representatives from Revenue, Agriculture, Forests, Public Works and Soil Conservation Departments would be formed to determine the amount of compensation to be paid to landholders and its decision on the amount of compensation would be final. 

The amendments have been prompted by the fact that sometimes, other individual land holders or land held by other entities/agencies do not allow the underground pipeline to pass through their lands, thus depriving the farmer whose land is located on the other side of vital irrigation facilities. Several government-funded projects also get held up due to the absence of any legislative rights with the state and now, with this legislation, the major road block in this regard has been cleared.