The land required for Kochi metro’s preliminary works and a major share of land needed for constructing the system of mass rapid transport will be acquired by January 31. The rest of the land will be acquired by March, a senior official in the Revenue Department said. Altogether, the project requires 40.40 hectares of land.
Approximately 1.70 hectares is required for widening narrow portions in the Aluva-Edapally stretch of NH 47 and 114 hectares for constructing metro villages in Muttom near Aluva and in Kakkanad. The five preparatory works entrusted with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) – constructing two overbridges and widening three arterial roads, requires a total of 102.50 cents of land.
Apart from the land required for the preliminary works, the Revenue Department plans to hand over 40 hectares of land for constructing a coach-maintenance yard at Muttom and plots for which Section 4 (1) notification will be issued before January end. The DMRC has already awarded the work on levelling the yard, foreseeing the handing over of the land. A few NGOs have opposed the acquisition of land for setting up a metro village at Muttom.
ADVERTISEMENT
December was the revised deadline to acquire land for the metro. This was further extended to February 2013, over a month ago.
“We have now fixed March as the deadline since the alignment for 15 metro stations is being finalised. Our teams are surveying the NH 47 to acquire land to widen narrow portions and to clear encroachments. There is little opposition to the land acquisition, since the government has promised a reasonable compensation package,” a Revenue official said. Parking restrictions will be imposed at work sites along the metro’s alignment, to ensure smooth flow of vehicles.