KOCHI: Plots at Thuthiyoor earmarked for rehabilitating families evicted for road and rail connectivity for the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) will have to be subjected to a detailed soil investigation before houses are built on them.
An inspection of two sites by officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) found the soil to be loose and settlement of blackish slush beneath the top soil. This has reportedly resulted in the tilting of two houses on the site, which was a paddy field earlier.
The Executive Engineer concerned is likely to submit a report to the District Collector after inspecting more such sites. Sources told The Hindu that holes would have to be drilled through the land to assess soil layers and the depth at which solid ground could be found. Any construction before that is unlikely to be stable.
The inspection was necessitated after land owners complained of the unstable nature of constructions on the plots at a meeting of the monitoring committee headed by the Collector entrusted with overseeing the implementation of the rehabilitation package.
Plots of four cents each were handed over at Thuthiyoor to 56 families evicted from Edappally North and South villages. However, only two families built houses on them.
“The land is unstable, and none of the infrastructure facilities, except for a few electric posts, promised at the time of granting title deeds is present at the rehabilitation sites. With the tilting of houses, no one wants to risk construction on the plots spending their life savings,” said K.N. Sabu, an evictee.
While some have built or purchased houses elsewhere, the less privileged continue to live in rented facilities.
For the record, road and rail connectivity for the project led to the eviction of as many as 316 families, including 10 who were forcibly evicted from Moolampilly and the seven villages of Mulavukad, Kadamakkudy, Cheranalloor, Edappally North and South, Kadungalloor, and Eloor nine years ago. Till now, only 38 families have built houses on the plots.
