Issues such as vagueness about what constitutes ‘public purpose’; widespread misuse of the ‘urgency’ clause for land acquisition, extremely narrow definition of ‘project-affected families’ – most of the affected people were left out of the ambit of any safety nets , serious undervaluation of acquired land and other immovable assets; compensation was inadequate to buy new land elsewhere , Inordinate delays in payment of compensation; non-transparent procedures, little or no public consultation/ participation; poor grievance redress mechanisms were characteristic of the Land Acquisition Act o