Two chambers of commerce in the district have termed as unfortunate the refusal by the Airport Area Anti-Eviction Forum to part with land for the expansion of the Calicut International Airport at Karipur in Malappuram district.
The refusal came even as Minister for Local Self-Governments K.T. Jaleel said at a meeting at Karipur on Tuesday that the State government had earmarked Rs.14,063 crore for land acquisition and related development needs for the airport.
The sums offered for land ranged from Rs.3 lakh to Rs.10 lakh for each cent, depending on the location.
The meeting was a follow-up to the one Chief Minister Pinnarayi Vijayan had with elected representatives, officials and trade bodies from both Kozhikode and Malapuram on July 20 in Thiruvananthapuram to break the deadlock over acquiring 385 acres for the expansion.
As participation at Tuesday’s meeting was restricted to parties and organisations in Malappuram, the two Kozhikode chambers were keenly awaiting the outcome, along with two other Kozhikode-based organisations, the Malabar Development Forum and the Malabar Development Council.
'Will affect Kozhikode, Malappuram'
Malabar Chamber of Commerce president C. Mohan and Calicut Chamber of Commerce honorary secretary Abdulla Maliyekal said it was unfortunate that a good and massive rehabilitation package by the State government was rejected by the anti-eviction forum. “Both Kozhikode and Malappuram would lose out on development,” said Mr. Mohan.
When contacted, convenor of the forum S. Jasir said the acquisition would force the relocation of 824 houses. “Already, 12 acquisitions were made to establish the airport and there are many persons fighting cases in courts for compensation. We have asked the government to look at options for airport expansion without land acquisition.”
Hoping that the State government would win over the landowners, the chambers looked to the next meeting with Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in New Delhi to help break the deadlock.
