31 ARUNACHAL FAMILIES BECOME CROREPATIS

GUWAHATI: Thirty-one families of Bomja village in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh became ‘crorepatis’ on Wednesday.

Five years after they gave away their land to the Army for construction of key location plan units, the families were handed over compensation cheques by Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu. For the 200 acres acquired by Tawang Garrison in the district bordering China, ₹40.80 crore — released by the defence ministry — was distributed among the families. Khandu handed over cheques worth ₹1.09 crore each to 29 families. One family got ₹6.73 crore and another received compensation worth nearly ₹2.45 crore. Thanking defence minister for releasing the amount, the CM said compensation for other private land acquired by the Army will also be handed over soon. In September last year, the Centre had issued a notification sanctioning release of Rs 158 crores as compensation for private land taken over in Arunachal Pradesh by the Indian Army.

The amount distributed on Wednesday was part of that compensation package. Following the Indo-china war in 1962, Indian Army went on a land acquiring spree in Arunachal Pradesh to set up bases and installations. But more than five decades later, compensation for most of those private lands is yet to be given.an amount of ~54 crore was released in April last year by the Centre to 152 families in three villages of Bomdila district.