A meeting to review the progress of the proposed Kozhikode monorail project here on Tuesday decided to hasten the land acquisition process in the city.
Those who took part in the meeting, chaired by the Minister for Public Works V.K. Ebrahim Kunju, included Kerala Monorail Corporation Limited (KMCL) managing director P. I. Sheikh Pareed, District Collector C.A. Latha, officials from the Kerala Water Authority, Kozhikode Corporation and Public Works Department.
Nearly 8.2819 hectares of government land at Meenchandha, Kallayi, Mananchira and Medical College would be required. Besides, 0.1426 and 0.2111 hectares of land in possession of the Kozhikode Corporation and KWA would also be needed for the project.
Already the District Level Purchase Committee (DLPC) has been entrusted with the acquisition process. A preliminary visit at the sites was also held on Tuesday.
Special Tahsildhar (City Road Development) E.P. Mercy, Monorail Project manager Anand Elamon, Land Acquisition Advisor M. Vijayaraghavan, Valuation Assistant K. Babu, Revenue Inspector P. Dileep did the preliminary assessment at Chevayur, Thondayad, Koottuli, new Bus stand and KSRTC areas.
It is learnt that the land in the possession of various government departments, Kozhikode Corporation and KWA would be taken for lease for a period of 30 years. The civic body had agreed in principle to part with the land.
Incidentally, the Kozhikode monorail project also required 1.47 hectares of private land.
An application for acquiring this land is with the Revenue department. The private property would have to be acquired under direct purchase after DLPC negotiated with the land owners on the value of land.
The proposed monorail has a total of 15 stations, of which, construction of 11 stations required private as well as government land.
The stations are Chevayur, Thondayad, Kottooli, New Bus stand, KSRTC, Palayam, Kallayi, Pushpa Junction, Panniyankara, Vattakinar and Meenchanda.
Meanwhile the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), general consultant for the project, has favoured discharge of the tender submitted by the single bidder, a consortium formed by Bombardier Transportation Holdings USA Inc, for the elevated mass rapid transit system in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.
