Acquisition of land for the expansion of Coimbatore International Airport has gained momentum with the recent allocation of ₹114.07 crore.
Sources in the know of the development said that the recent allocation was to compensate owners who have lands in blocks 8 and 19.
According to them, the total allotment of funds received for the acquisition of land till now from 2018-19 was ₹1,925 crore. As of now, compensation to the tune of ₹1,490 crore has been disbursed to land owners after the completion of various formalities, including registration works. The remaining ₹435 crore will be disbursed to land owners on completion of these procedures.
The initial years of acquisition were sluggish as a total compensation ₹573 crore was disbursed to the land owners during 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21. The acquisition procedure was expedited after the present government came to power and additional staff for the works were deputed, they said.
An official said that land disputes, litigation seeking higher compensation, and issues related to ownership and legal heirship were among factors, which are causing delay in the acquisition of the remaining acres of patta land. The Revenue Department was disbursing the compensation to owners within 48 hours of the completion of registration.
The plan is to acquire a total area of 627.89 acres spread over 24 blocks in Singanallur, Uppilipalayam, Kalapatti and Irugur villages. One entire block which belonged to the defence is spread over 134.2 acres. While 462 acres are patta land, the remaining 31.69 acres were classified as non-cultivable/poramboke land. The compensation fixed by the government was ₹1,500 per sqft for residential areas and ₹900 per sqft for agricultural plots.
