The Land Acquisition and Resettlement Framework (LARF) for the Power Transmission Enhancement Programme for Pakistan was prepared by National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) to guide the preparation and implementation of Land Acquisition and Resettlement (LAR) tasks in a fashion fitting the ADB Policy on Involuntary Resettlement and the conditionalities for multi-tranche financial facilities (MFF).
According to ADB sources, the LARF sets out the objectives, principles, eligibility criteria for affected people (APs), entitlements, legal and institutional framework, modes of compensation and rehabilitation, participation and consultation procedures and grievance redress mechanisms that will be employed to compensate, resettle and rehabilitate the living standards of the APs. The LARF also sets out the steps for preparation of resettlement plans for subprojects. This LARF is fully endorsed by NTDC.
ADB sources further stated that the program will be financed through an MFF including 4 tranches, each covering several subprojects. MFF appraisal includes the appraisal of tranche 1, which involves subprojects targeting the expansion of existing grid stations through addition of transformers, construction of new grid stations, and installation of 220 or 500 kV transmission lines of various lengths. Based on ADB's operational procedures for MFFs all subprojects within a proposed tranche will have to be fully prepared. For subprojects with LAR, this includes the preparation of the needed Land Acquisition and Resettlement Plans (LARPs).
Official sources said that the 1894 Land Acquisition Act (LAA) with its successive amendments is the main law regulating land acquisition for public purpose. The LAA has been variously interpreted by local governments, and some province has augmented the LAA by issuing provincial legislation's.
The LAA and its Implementation Rules require that following an impacts assessment/valuation effort, land and crops are compensated in cash at market rate to titled landowners and registered land tenants/users, respectively. The LAA mandates that land valuation is to be based on the latest 5-3 years average registered land sale rates, though, in several recent cases the median rate over the past 1 year, or even the current rates, have been applied.
Due to widespread land under-valuation by the Revenue Department, current market rates are now frequently applied with an added 15 percent Compulsory Acquisition Surcharge as provided in the LAA.
Based on the LAA, only legal owners and tenants registered with the Land Revenue Department or possessing formal lease agreements is eligible for compensation or livelihood support. The rights of the titleless, are however, addressed under the 1986 Punjab Jinnah Abadis for Non-proprietors in Rural Areas Act which recognise to squatters the right to receive rehabilitation in form of a replacement plot.
It is to be noted that this right has been sometimes extended in practice to include some form of rehabilitation in cash or in forms different from land. Projects such as Chotiari Dam, Ghazi Barotha Hydropower, and National Highways Improvement, have awarded compensation and assistance to unregistered tenants and other forms of AP (sharecroppers/squatters).
Official sources pointed out that the LAA does not automatically mandate for specific rehabilitation/assistance provisions benefiting the poor, vulnerable groups, or severely affected APs, nor it automatically provides for rehabilitation of income/livelihood losses or resettlement costs. This however, is often done in many projects in the form of ad hoc arrangements based on negotiations between a specific EA and the APs.
Sources said that exceptions to the rule are intrinsic to the fact that the law is elastic and is broadly interpreted at provincial level depending on operational requirements, local needs, and socio-economic circumstances. Recourse is often taken to ad hoc arrangements, agreements and understandings for resettlement in difficult situations.
This programme is also influenced by the fact that an amendment of the LAA has been considered necessary by the Ministry of Environment. Accordingly, a National Resettlement Policy (NRP) and a Resettlement Ordinance have been drafted to broaden LAA provisions and current practices so as to widen the scope of eligibility and tightening up loopholes (ie regarding definitions of malpractice's, cutoff dates, political influence on routing, etc). But both these documents are still awaiting government approval for implementation.
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