Acquisition of land for canals and field-channels.

(1) If at any time on an application of a Canal Officer not lower in rank than an Executive Engineer, the Appropriate Authority is satisfied that any land, or any right or interest of any person in any land required for the consruction of a new canal, or a new field-channel under section 24, or for the maintenance, improvement or extension of an existing canal should be compulsorily acquired or extinguished, the Approximate Authority may acquire the land, right or interest by agreement or the State Government may acquire the land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, or the Zilla Parishad or the Company may make an application to the State Government for acquiring such land under that Act. (2) On receipt of such application from the Zilla Parishad or Company, if the State Government is satisfied that the land specified in the application is needed for the public purpose therein specified or if the State Government decides to acquire the land under sub-section (1), it may make a declaration to that effect in the Official Gazette, in the manner provided in section 6 of the Land Acqisition Act, 1894, in respect of the said land, right or interest. The declaration so published shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the said Act, be deemed to be a declaration duly made under the said section : Provided that, if the land proposed to be acquired falls within the Scheduled Area then the State Government shall, before such acquisition or before re-settling or rehabilitating the persons affected by such projects in such Scheduled Areas consult,— (i) the Gram Sabha and Panchayat concerned, if the land is falling within the area of one Panchayat ; (ii) the concered Gram Sabhas and Panchayat Samitti , if the land is falling within the area of more than one Panchayats in the Block concerned ; (iii) concered Gram Sabhas and Zilla Parishad , if the land is falling within the area of more than one Blocks in the District concerned ; Such consultation shall be done in the manner as may be laid down by the State Government, by issuing a general or a special order in this behalf : Provided that, the decision taken by majority of Gram Sabhas concerned by passing a resolution in the above matter shall be binding on the concerned Panchayat Samiti or the Zilla Parishad, as the case may be.