Vaikom Road widening work runs into trouble

Residents allege acquisition of land beyond notified areas

Widening of the Vaikom Road from S.N. Junction in Thripunithura to Poothota, for which ₹300 crore was provided in the previous year’s State Budget, has run into trouble with survey stones being laid “beyond the areas frozen for land acquisition.”

Laying of survey stones well beyond the frozen line has raised concern among residents who have been living there for long, said V.P. Prasad, chairman of the Thripunithura Rajanagari Union of Residents’ Associations, in a statement.

Houses affected

He alleged that though there are survey stones on both sides of the road, more land is being acquired on one side, affecting some houses.

Arterial road

The proposed 22-metre four-lane road is expected to become the arterial road of Thripunithura that would relieve traffic congestion being experienced on all roads in Thripunithura.

From the earlier 32 metres, the width of the road has been scaled down to 22 metres.

It is over 30 years since the Thripunithura municipality froze any construction or sale of property on either side of the road that comes under the ambit of 16.5 metres from the centre of the Vaikom Road.

Work had begun on widening the road recently.

It is injustice to acquire more land from one side, Mr. Prasad said adding that the alignment of the road has to be reworked in case of acquisition of more land than what was notified.

‘No issues’

Responding to the issue, O.V. Salim, vice president of the municipality, said that there were no issues with regard to acquiring more land from one side or going beyond the demarcation line for the project.

The development work would not affect the residents who had been living there for decades, he said.

Vaikom Road expansion was started recently after a year of getting bugetary allocation through the Kerala Investment Infrastructure Fund Board (KIIFB).