Award prepared by Collector last year; aggrieved appeal Nitin Gadkari to intervene
Budgam: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has failed to pay compensation to more than three dozen families in central Kashmir’s Budgam district for last several months. The aggrieved land owners have appealed India’s Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to intervene and get their payments released.
Details available reveal that around 488 kanald (600 acres) of agriculture land was acquired in Budgam district around 2019 for construction of the Srinagar Ring Road project. The payment was made but aggrieved had gone to J&K High Court who directed to pay 20 % more compensation in 2023.
The JK Govt filed an appeal against the said order but that was rejected by the Supreme Court of India. The Collector land acquisition Budgam finally prepared the award in November last year but the NHAI officials have not paid the compensation money till date, allege the aggrieved landowners / farmers
The Collector Land Acquisition Budgam Afroza Bano vide her communication number : DCB/LAC/2025-26/1127-29 Dated: 27.11.2025 had forwarded the detailed document to Project Director NHAI Srinagar for release of more than Rs 125 crores for land owners of village Wathoora Chadoora in District Budgam
“ It is more than 3 months since the award was prepared and till date the compensation is yet to be paid by the NHAI. We have already suffered on account of compensation as our land had more market value. If the award has been prepared more than 3 months back , we fail to understand why compensation isn’t paid to us by NHAI “ said Nazir Ahmad an aggrieved farmer of Wathoora Chadoora.
The Srinagar Ring Road Project, is a four-lane semi-ring road that has achieved 90 % percent completion in Phase-1 and is set to open by May 2026. This project is aimed at easing traffic congestion and improving connectivity.
The project is part of the Prime Minister’s Development Project (PMDP) for Jammu and Kashmir which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.
The 60.84-kilometer-long road is being built in two phases. Phase-1 involves a 42-km section connecting Galander to Narbal, while Phase-2 includes an 18.84-km stretch from Narbal to Ganderbal.
