The district administration is awaiting the approval of the State government to launch a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) ahead of acquiring land for the ₹2,577-crore Kochi metro corridor between Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium and Infopark.
The Kakkanad extension of the project involves acquisition of 2.86 hectares across Kakkanad, Vazhakkala and Edappally South villages. The proposed stretch will have 11 stations.
“While the District Collector is empowered to take decisions involving acquisition of land up to two hectares, the approval has to come from the State government where the parcel of land exceeds that as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act. A proposal seeking the approval of the government will be submitted shortly,” District Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla told The Hindu .
Besides, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) will have to extend its concurrence to the district administration sanctioning 50% of establishment charges.
KMRL had submitted a revised proposal on February 16 after incorporating the requisite changes in keeping with the Centre’s new metro policy introduced last year. “The DPR was revised including the scope for alternative mode of transport on the stretch other than metro, comprehensive mobility plan and viability. The new metro policy made Public Private Participation [PPP] an essential feature of future metros. However, that was not an issue since we already had a PPP component in the form of association with the French funding agency Agence Francaise de Developpement,” metro sources said.
The joint inspection of the land by revenue and KMRL authorities as a prelude to the launch of SIA has already been completed.
While the inspection of the parcel of land in Kakkanad village was completed on January 23, inspection of land in Vazhakkala and Edappally South villages was completed on February 15.
