The government has finally succeeded in cutting the gordian knot of acquiring 8 hectares of land from Vallakkadavu-Vayyamoola area for further development of Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
Hundreds of residents staying close to the boundary wall of the airport and on the bank of Parvathy Puthanar and coming under Pettah and Muttathara villages have agreed to part with the land for the Airports Authority of India to construct a new domestic terminal on the city side at the initiative of District Collector K. Vasuki.
Ms. Vasuki, who is also the Managing Director of Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Development Society (TRIADS), was on Monday able to break the ice and to commence survey of 50 cents of land belonging to A. Ashokan under the Vayyamoola Residents Association (VRA) during her maiden visit to the area.
Like Mr. Ashokan, many are parting with the land for the second, third and fourth time since 1972 when land was first acquired for the development of the premier airport. Mr. Ashokan said his family first parted with the land at Chakka in 1972 for the airport and moved to this place.
The hostile attitude of the local residents and protest witnessed in August 2016 when the district administration came to survey the land was missing now. The visit was ahead of the District Collectors conference convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the December deadline set for acquiring land and the commencement of the Social Impact Assessment study in the locality by Loyola School of Social Sciences this week.
Ms. Vasuki, who was accompanied by the Deputy Collector, Land Acquisition and Special Tahsildar, Land Acquisition, interacted with those being displaced in VRA and Devi Nagar Residents Association and visited the locality to know the terrain and ground realities.
Demands
The District Collector said she will apprise the government of their demands for a government sponsored rehabilitation for the headload workers, coconut climbers and dhobies at a nearby place. The demand for employment to at least one member of the family being displaced in the airport will also be taken up. Airport Action Council and Vallakkadavu-Vayyamoola Joint Action Council General convenor A. Saifudeen Haji and convener N. Vikraman Nair also were present.
Though the 8 hectares identified had been notified, the proceedings of land acquisition by the Revenue Wing will commence only after the SIA study and public hearing.
Already, market price for the land, cost of the building and trees on the land, and compensation as per the Karamana-Kaliyikkavila National Highway 66 package had been promised for those surrendering the land.
With this, the prospect of a domestic terminal adjacent to the international terminal complex has brightened. The AAI has already earmarked funds for the works. The proposed domestic terminal is part of the final phase of the master plan conceived by the AAI in the 1990s.
