All hopes on budgetary aid

The Revenue Department is pinning all hopes on budgetary allocation for the Mananchira-Vellimadukunnu road widening project in the city.

The State government had sanctioned Rs.25 crore as the first tranche to acquire land. The State-level Empowered Committee had endorsed the recommendations of the District-Level Purchase Committee (DLPC) on land rates. “The Rs.25 crore is yet to be transferred to the Revenue Department. This will take its time. The funds could be used for land acquisition,” District Collector N. Prasanth, told The Hindu on Wednesday.

Not less than Rs.340 crore was required to acquire land for widening the 8.4-km Mananchira-Vellimadukunnu stretch of the National Highway 212 (NH 212). The acquisition had to completed ahead of the expiry of the notification issued under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, he said.

More legal complications were likely to crop up in the wake of the amendments made to the Act. This included the contentious, Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment ) Bill, passed in the Lok Sabha this week.

Delay

Incidentally, the 2008-09 Budget had allocated Rs.52 crore to acquire the land for converting the road into a four-lane highway. But all these years, the project got delayed due to various reasons. It was to be seen whether the government would allocate a huge amount when it was going through a financial situation, official sources said.

Nearly 7.36 hectares of land was required for widening the road. Of this, three acres of land was in the possession of the government. The rest was with private individuals.

Previously, the government had thought of invoking the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act for taking over land from owners refusing to part with their property. Only 70 per cent of property owners had given their letter of consent to the Tahsildar (Land Acquisition) after agreeing to the terms and conditions of acquisition.

The DLPC had fixed property rates in the Rs.12 lakh-Rs.21 lakh range (per cent) on the sixth stretches of the road depending on the market value. The owners had sought high and unreasonable rates. Properties without proper title-deeds would be taken over by the government. Assessment of buildings on the stretches and a rehabilitation package for workers of commercial establishments had also been worked out, sources said.

Rs.25 crore provided by

State government

Rs.340 crore required to

acquire land