Chapter I PRELIMINARY

1. (1) This Act may be called the Maharashtra Project Affected Persons Rehabilitation Act, 1999.
2. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Maharashtra.
3. (3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by 1notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
4. (4) (a) It shall apply to all irrigation projects of which the area of the affected zone exceeds 50 hectares, or the area of the benefited zone exceeds 200 hectares or a gaothan is affected.
   • (b) It shall also apply to all projects, other than irrigation projects specified in clause (a), such as industry including industrial estate, atomic energy, university, oil and natural gas, energy, chemical, roads, national park, sanctuary, mines, etc. However, the entire responsibility to execute them and to rehabilitate the project affected persons shall rest with the concerned department of the Government of Maharashtra by entering into an agreement with the concerned project authority or body.
   • (c) Where, in the opinion of the State Government, it is necessary and expedient in the public interest to apply it to any other project, the State Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, declare that it shall apply in relation to such project as specified in the notification ; and thereupon the provisions of this Act shall apply to such project.
   • (d) Notwithstanding anything contained in clauses (a) and (b) , it shall not apply to projects falling under the jurisdiction of inter-State projects; and the rehabilitation work, financed by the external agencies and countries.

In this Act, unless the context requires otherwise,-

1. (1) "affected zone", in relation to a project, means the area declared under section 13 to constitute the area of the affected zone under that project ;
2. (2) "affected persons" means-
   • (a) an occupant whose land in the affected zone (including land in the gaothan) is acquired under section 14 for the purposes of a project ; Explanation.- For the purpose of this sub-clause, where any agricultural land is recorded in the relevant village records in the name of one of the brothers as a Karta or Manager of a Hindu Joint Family, then every brother 1[or sister] or 2[son or sons or daughter or daughters of each deceased brother or deceased sister as one separate unit) of such brother or sister] who has a share in the lands, whether his name is recorded in such village record or not, shall be treated as affected person ;
   • (b) a person who is a tenant in actual possession of land under the relevant tenancy law in the affected zone at the time of acquisition of land ;
   • (c) an occupant whose land in the benefited zone is acquired for construction, extension, improvement or development of canals and their banks under irrigation project or for establishment of a new gaothan within or outside the benefited zone for rehabilitation of persons from affected zone, and whose-
     • (i) residual cultivable holding is reduced to less than one hectare after acquisition ; or
     • (ii) residual holding stands divided into fragments which are rendered unprofitable for cultivation ; or
     • (iii) residual holding is rendered uncultivable. Explanation.- For the purposes of this sub-clause, the expression "occupant" includes a tenant in actual possession of land under the relevant tenancy law in the benefited zone at the time of acquisition of land ;
   • (d) a person who is an agricultural labourer ;
   • (e) a person, not being an occupant or a person referred to in sub-clauses (a), (b) , (c) and (d), who for a continuous period of not less than five years immediately before the date of publication of the notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (I of 1894), has been ordinarily residing or carrying on any trade, occupation or calling or working for gain in a gaothan in the affected zone ;
3. (3) "agricultural labourer" means a person who does not hold any land in the affected zone but who earns his livelihood principally by manual labour on agricultural land for not less than five years immediately before the area comprising that land is declared to constitute an affected zone under section 13, and who has been deprived of earning his livelihood principally by manual labour on that land ; Explanation.- For the purpose of determining the five years residence in the affected zone, the norms shall be as prescribed.
4. (4) "agricultural land" includes land used or usable for horticulture, the raising of crops, grass or garden produce, dairy farming, breeding of livestock, poultry farming, fish farming, fish seed production centre, nursery, growing medicinal herbs or the grazing cattle ; but does not include land used for cutting of wood only ;
5. (5) "beneficiary" in relation to a project means whosoever, either individually or as an institution, company, factory gets benefits directly or indirectly from the project ;
6. (6) "benefited zone", in relation to a project, means the area declared under section 13 to constitute the area of the benefited zone under that project ;
7. (7) "Code" means the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 (Mah. XLI of 1966) ;
8. (8) "holding" means the total land held by a person as an occupant or tenant, or as both ; Explanation.- For the purposes of this clause, while calculating the total land held by a person, the following lands in the benefited zone shall not be taken into consideration, namely :-
   • (a) the land on which the dwelling house or cattle shed (gotha) is erected and such land shall include also the area adjacent thereto comprising land of three meters surrounding such dwelling house or cattle shed (gotha) ;
   • (b) the land on which a well has been dug and is shown as such in the village register of land records (Village Forms VII and XII) ;
   • (c) the land which is shown as unarable or un-cultivable (pot-kharab) land in the village register of land records (Village Forms VII and XII) for a continuous period of not less than five years immediately before the year of issue of the notification under section 11;
   • (d) fifty per cent. of the land which is shown as saline (Khar) land in the village register of land records (Village Forms VII and XII) for a continuous period of not less than five years immediately before the year of issue of the notification under section 11 ;
9. (9) "land pool" means the lands referred to in sub-section (1) and (4) of section 14 which may be available for rehabilitation of affected person ;
10. (10) "project" means,-
    • (a) an irrigation project, that is to say, the construction, extension, improvement or development or any work for the supply of water for the purpose of irrigation ;
    • (b) atomic energy and power project, that is to say, construction, extension, improvement or development of any work for the production or supply of electricity or any work conducive to electrical development ;
    • (c) a public utility project, that is to say, any work of construction, extension, improvement or development of public utility including roads, other than irrigation project and power project ;
    • (d) National Park and Sanctuary declared under the provisions of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 (53 of 1972);
    • (e) an industrial project, that is to say, setting up of production, distribution or service industry of providing any service, in relation to them and includes an Industrial Estate ;
    • (f) an university project, that is to say, setting up of any university or any teaching, training institution ;
    • (g) a chemical project, that is to say, extraction, production and processing of chemicals ;
    • (h) a mine project, that is to say, extraction of any mineral from the bed of the earth or river bed ;
      • (i) any composite project of any of the two or more such projects ; and includes any work of construction, extension, improvement or development which is incidental or supplemental to the execution of a project, such as construction of pump house, lift irrigation scheme, colony, etc., and which results in rendering the holders or occupants of land, which may be used for such project, as affected persons and in respect of which a notification is issued under section 11 ;
11. (11) "project authority" means an officer in whom the overall control and superintendence of the execution of the project vests and includes an officer whom the State Government may, by general or special order, designate to be a project authority ;
12. (12) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act ;
13. (13) "revenue division" means a revenue area which forms a division under section 3 of the Code ;
14. (14) "rules" means rules made under this Act ;
15. (15) "Schedule" means the Schedule appended to this Act ;
16. (16) "to cultivate" means to carry on any agricultural operation, and the expression "cultivation" shall be construed accordingly ;
17. (17) "Village Panchayat" means a Village Panchayat established or deemed to have been established under the 1Bombay Village Panchayats Act, 1958 (Bom. III of 1959) ;
18. (18) words and expressions used in this Act but not defined, shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Code.