KOCHI: Land acquisition gains speed by the revenue department of the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd(KMRL) which is gearing up to begin commercial operations between Maharaja’s College and Thykoodam during the first week of September along the Pettah- SN Junction corridor.
The revenue department, which is responsible for land acquisition along the corridor, said that out of around 200 landowners who have to be paid compensation, they could only handover payments to about 90 landowners along the stretch.
P B Sunillal deputy collector (Metro land acquisition) said that the revenue department has almost completed 75% of the procedures required for taking over land from landowners. Metro land acquisition is awaiting clearance from the finance department. On obtaining the clearance, bills will be submitted at the treasury from where the compensation amount will be transferred to the accounts of landowners.
The department said the compensation for landowners are being provided as per the Right To Fair Compensation And Transparency In Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation And Resettlement Act, 2013.
He also added that Landowners are generally happy with the system of awarding compensation. However, those who are not satisfied with the compensation amount allocated would initiate legal proceedings to claim higher rates.
The revenue department has fixed the land price after taking into account title deeds of 10 properties along the stretch. Out of this, five title deeds which have registered the latest and highest land price are selected.
The price for land that has to be acquired for Kochi Metro is fixed on the basis of the average price of the land value of these five properties.
However, landowners along the stretch said that while the department speedily settles the case of small parcels of land, it takes much time to provide compensation for those who have given large parcels of land.
Unnikrishnan Pettah, a local resident said that the real estate sector is not doing well these days. Most land scale in the region is linked with Kochi Metro.
About the SN Junction-Tripunithura stretch, officials said that though KMRL has invited bids from design consultants to implement the project along the stretch, the revenue department has not yet initiated land acquisition process along this stretch.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said that Metro works between Thykoodam and Pettah are fast progressing. The Metro authority said that they expected to complete the civil works along the stretch by December 2019.
A DMRC official said that the entire work will get over by March 2020. This is the maximum period. The old Chambakkara bridge will be demolished, complete works at Ernakulam South station.
Source: ET Realty