The Hindu : Land acquisition: out-of-court settlement proposed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 15, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Land acquisition: out-of-court settlement proposed

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM June 14. The Minister of State for Defence and Parliamentary Affairs, O.Rajagopal, has suggested an out-of-court settlement to resolve the dispute over land acquisition for the development of the Thiruvananthapuram international airport. He was addressing a meeting organised by the People's Action Forum for Thiruvananthapuram Airport (PAFTA) here today.

Pointing out that a protracted litigation over the issue would be detrimental to the project, Mr.Rajagopal stressed the need to rehabilitate the 47 families to be displaced from the three-acre plot to be acquired. He said the Chief Minister's involvement would be crucial in the effort.

The Deputy Mayor, Sujanapriyan, said a 10-acre plot under the Corporation at Iranimuttom could be considered for rehabilitation. He however added that the proposal would require Government clearance since the land was earmarked for a housing project for scheduled caste families.

Mr.Sujanapriyan said the Government should identify land in the Pettah, Kadakampally, Muttathara or Chackai wards if the Iranimuttom plot could not released. The Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithy leader, Peringamala Ramachandran, said the evicted families would be willing to move out if they were given compensation for their land at market value.

In his reply address, Mr.Rajagopal said the Central Government had no role to play in settling the land dispute. The meeting set up a committee comprising the BJP leader, B.K.Sekhar, the former MP, Thalekkunnil Basheer, the Deputy Mayor and the general secretary of the Federation of Residents Associations, Thiruvananthapuram, Punchakary Ravi, to resolve the issue.

Earlier, PAFTA representatives handed over a memorandum to Mr.Rajagopal seeking his intervention for the airport development project. The petition urged the Centre to expedite the construction of a new terminal of international standards. It observed that any delay in construction of the proposed terminal would lead to diversion of traffic.

During the discussion, representatives of air travel agencies and organisations working for the development of the capital city said many foreign airlines were unwilling to operate from Thiruvananthapuram because of the lack of facilities at the existing terminal. Highlighting the harassment of passengers by airport officials and Emigration authorities, they also called for handing over the Emigration formalities to the Intelligence Bureau.

The memorandum urged the Civil Aviation Ministry to start a daily to-and-fro service on the Thiruvananthapuram-New Delhi route. Mr.Rajagopal said the proposal should be preceded by a survey to assess the commercial feasibility.

The petition also called for a daily Air India service to Dubai and direct flights to Doha and Bahrain besides Indian Airlines operations to Sharjah, Muscat and Kuwait. Noting that the withdrawal of the Thiruvananthapuram-Colombo flight by Indian Airlines last year had badly hit the hospitality sector, it called for restoring the operation.

Another major appeal was to start flights connecting the Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode airports to boost tourism, business and industry. Mr.Rajagopal observed that this proposal too should be subject to a feasibility study.

The PAFTA memorandum also drew the Central Government's attention to the high disparity between the national carriers and foreign airlines in the fare for Gulf-bound flights. It said Air India and Indian Airlines were charging exorbitant rates on Gulf routes while foreign airlines were operating direct flights to these destinations at much lower fares.

Mr.Rajagopal suggested that a delegation from Thiruvananthapuram be deputed to Delhi to meet the Civil Aviation minister and sort out the issues involving the ministry. The former Transport Minister, Sankaranarayana Pillai, the BJP leader, K.Raman Pillai and leaders of various organisations participated in the meeting.

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