: The government on Thursday beat a hasty retreat from the plans to survey eight hectares needed from Pettah and Muttathara villages for the construction of a new terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram international airport.
The 13-member team led by special tahsildar, land acquisition (airport), M. Rajankayan who arrived at Priyadarshini Residents Association near Bangladesh Colony at 10 a.m. to conduct the survey, was roughed up by residents and office-bearers of the joint action council opposing the land acquisition.
Abuses were showered at the personnel and the special tahsildar was threatened with dire consequences.
The team was not allowed to take up the survey despite informing that four persons had surrendered their title deeds at the Collectorate.
The residents told the officials and the police that they had not got any intimation and they would not allow them to go ahead with the survey work.
As things seemed to go out of hand and the local people began assembling in large numbers to prevent the survey, the police officers advised the revenue team to withdraw from the colony. Additional police personnel also reached the spot as the team had instructions to proceed with the survey.
But the residents were adamant that they would not allow the survey as they could not afford another land acquisition for the development of airport. “Successive governments have taken us for a ride. The job and compensation promised to us have been confined to paper. We are not ready to part with the land,” one of the residents said. Over 300 families are members of the association that has jurisdiction of the area near the government-owned Coconut Nursery, Valliathura.
Local councillor Shajida Nazer also told the officials that even she had not been informed about the survey and no discussions had been held. “By God’s grace, you were not manhandled by the residents,” she told the special tahsildar.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Sanghumughom, R. Mahesh, who reached the spot, said the survey would be taken up only after the talks to be convened of all concerned by the government.
Following this, the revenue officials returned to the Collectorate. District Collector Biju Prabhakar later visited the locality.
The special tahsildar told The Hindu that eight more applications expressing willingness to surrender the land had been received. With this, the number of persons who had come forward to surrender the land totalled 88.
Meanwhile, the Vallakadavu-Vayamoola Joint Action Council and the Airport Action Council have decided to organise a protest meeting at Sahridya ground on August 14 to muster support against the land acquisition.
