People who own land along the old alignment for the proposed western bypass road project are in a fix, as their plots remain blocked for registration though a new alignment has been finalised.
Almost a month ago, the Revenue Department issued a communication to the Registration Department regarding details of lands identified for acquisition as per the new alignment. The Registration Department too has stopped registering lands in these areas. The details were shared with the local bodies and Local Planning Authority too.
However, the communication does not mention the old alignment and the need to release the lands blocked for registration in these areas. This has resulted in people owning lands along the old alignment unable to sell their lands.
Further, the delay in communicating the new alignment has increased the guideline value in those areas.
According to K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause, since 2010, there is talk of the western bypass road. Those with land along the old alignment are suffering for long because of the time taken to finalise the new alignment and notifying it. With the land along the old alignment yet to be released, the land owners are affected. It is such issues that make land acquisition challenging for infrastructure projects. Further, delays lead to higher guideline values. Some owners along the new alignment may have constructed buildings and the government has to now pay compensation for buildings too. For any infrastructure project, land should be identified without delay for acquisition and these should be notified and communicated to all departments and officials concerned at the earliest. This will make the acquisition process simpler and bring down the cost of acquisition too, he said.
