KOLKATA, 2 OCT: The much-touted West Bengal Highway Development Corporation (WBHDCL) may end up as a non-starter due to the land-acquisition policy of the state government which has made the expansion of highways almost impossible. Officials have ruled out any land acquisition for the improvement of the existing highways and roads. “We are not planning to acquire any land for widening the roads. Instead we would prefer to build good quality roads which will be durable enough to withstand damage for the next 25 years,” said an official. He added that even though there was right-of-way along all the national highways it was impossible to remove encroachers. “When we cannot acquire land for NH 34, it would be next to impossible to acquire land for our state highways. We are focused on improving the quality of roads and ensure durability,” he added. The state government has so far failed to acquire land for NH 34, holding up the four-laning process. Similarly, the widening of NH 35 was called off by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) over problems with land acquisition. WBHDCL has plans to rebuild 4,505 km of roads including 19 highways and asked Rites to survey five roads across the state, including the 86 km Kolkata-Basanti Road. Rites has submitted an interim report. According to the report, tolling would be available for 50 per cent of the roads and the rest could be given on annuity where the state government would ensure that the private party does not suffer losses even if the toll collection is less than expected, due to inadequate traffic. However, state government officials admit that land acquisition is an absolute necessity for the expansion of the roads. They are apprehensive that in case there is no land acquisition it may be difficult to attract private parties to build these infrastructure projects due to uncertain returns. The state government's new land-acquisition policy is yet to see the light of the day. Although it was approved by the Cabinet, the policy was never notified or enacted and hence the old Land Acquisition Act of 1894 is still evoked for acquiring land from owners. The land-losers are also getting compensation at the rate fixed by the previous Left Front government but often they are unwilling to give up land, demanding compensation at market rates.