Jammu, April 25 -- It was pitched as a game-changer. A grand infrastructure project promising progress, prosperity, and seamless connectivity across North India. But forhundreds of landowners in Kathua and adjoining areas, theDelhi-Katra-Amritsar Expresswayhas become anightmare paved with broken promises, unpaid dues, and unanswered pleas.
Despite theCentre's release of Rs.43 crorefor land compensation,not a single rupeehas reached the rightful owners.252 compensation cases-yes,252-languish in red tape and political silence.Rs.42.89 crore remains locked in government vaults, while the very people whose lands were taken wait, beg, and suffer.
"The Centre kept its promise. The state betrayed us," saysDiddar Singh, a landowner from Kiddian G...