The Public Works Department will resume measuring of the land to be acquired for the expansion of the Vytilla-Pettah Road on Friday. Work will exempt three contentious areas where dispute persists on account of alignment. At a meeting here, local residents and traders have assured the District Collector that they would not disrupt work.
A combined squad led by the District Collector will visit the contentious areas before resuming work there. The proposal is to expand Vytilla-Pettah Road to a width of 26 meters. Though the PWD had recommended expansion to a width of 30 meters, it was later reduced to 26 meters on account of protests by the people. A consensus had been reached to expand road by 30 meters wherever possible.
The collector said that the authorities had not backtracked from the land detection conducted earlier by a team led by the Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition) Mohandas Pillai. Land is being acquired for the development of the road and this calls for a minimum width of 26 meters. Rehabilitation package will be formed for those displaced by the acquisition.