Only 17 of the 171 to be affected by the acquisition of land of over 8 hectares in the Vallakkadavu-Vayyamoola area for the integrated terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport participated in the public hearing held at the District Collectorate on Thursday.
The day-long public hearing, organised on the directive of District Collector K. Vasuki, to win over the residents and expedite land acquisition, was boycotted by residents staying in the demarcated land following a boycott call by the Vallakadavu-Vayyamoola Joint Action Council.
Council opposes move
The council has announced that land cannot be surrendered in view of the Centre’s decision to hand over the premier airport managed at present by the Airports Authority of India to a private player.
At the public hearing chaired by Deputy Collector Sam Cletus, five of the 17 landowners who turned up demanded a revision of the rehabilitation package, which is yet to be made public by the government.
The other 12 landowners did not respond to the request of the Deputy Collector to give in writing if they had any complaint against the land acquisition proceedings. Special Tahsildar, Airport Land Acquisition, Saji and officials were present during the hearing.
N. Vikaraman Nair, general convener of the council, said those who participated in the public hearing were not residents of the area identified to be acquired for the airport development and that they had only land property.
SIA study
A Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study to acquire the eight hectares of land conducted by the Loyola College of Social Sciences, Sreekaryam, had found that 444 people would be affected. As many as 73 families would be displaced and 32 families who have been living here for years would lose their land.
