The land required for the construction of the Vathuruthy railway over-bridge will be handed over on receipt of the order passed by the High Court on the issue, Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) P.H. Kurian informed the State Human Rights Commission.
Commission Acting Chairman P. Mohandas had sought explanation from the authorities for not commencing the construction of the over-bridge despite the government making a budgetary allocation of ₹35 lakh for the project. Consequently, the Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue), District Collector, and the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) submitted explanations.
Mr. Kurian said the CPT had to hand over the land at Ramanthuruth for constructing the over-bridge. The CPT is yet to hand over the 13.91 acres in Fort Kochi village. He said parcel of land was given on lease to Aspinwall Company by the Madras government in 1902. However, it was taken back on February 8, 1978, following a lease agreement violation, which was challenged by the company in the Kochi sub court. The government subsequently went on appeal, which was decided on June 20, 2017 by the High Court.
No step taken
The government had made budgetary allocation for the over-bridge project on an order passed by the commission. However, no step was taken for the construction of the over-bridge, following which councillor Thampy Subramanian approached the commission.
