Authorities have hastened the process of land acquisition for widening the Thuravoor-Oachira stretch of National Highway (NH) 66 in Alappuzha district.
Officials told The Hindu on Tuesday that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) would soon start laying alignment stones and centre-marking as part of boundary demarcation.
“The NHAI has already started the process in Kollam district. We expect them to start laying alignment stones in Alappuzha in the next couple of weeks. Once the process is completed, the Revenue Department will launch survey for acquiring land,” said an official with the Revenue Department.
The official added that more surveyors had been recruited to complete the survey in a time-bound manner. “So far, it’s been mostly smooth sailing, barring minor issues. The Revenue Department has conducted public hearings to redress the grievances of residents regarding the acquisition of land for NH widening. Most of the objections received were about compensation. However, we also received a few complaints regarding the proposed alignment of the road. The objections have been forwarded to the NHAI. As of now, no decision has been taken to change the alignment,” the official added.
The plan is to widen the 81.6-km stretch of the NH into four lanes of 45 metres. The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had earlier issued a notification, which set in motion the process of land acquisition. As per the mandatory notification (dated February 15, under Section 3A of the National Highway Act, 1956), 126.6 hectares of government and private land would be acquired for the NH development in the district.
A special unit under the Revenue Department has been entrusted with the land acquisition process. The officials said all procedures related to acquiring land should be completed within a year for issuing 3D notification (declaration of acquisition). Otherwise, the 3A notification would become invalid.
The land to be acquired as per the 3A notification is in the villages of Thuravoor South, Pattanakkad, Kadakkarappally, Vayalar East, Cherthala North, Cherthala South, Kokkothamangalam, Thanneermukkom North, Mararikulam North, Kanjikuzhi, Kalavoor, Pathirappally, Mannancherry, Komalapuram, Aryad South, Paravoor, Punnapra, Ambalapuzha, Purakkad, Thrikkunnapuzha, Karuvatta, Kumarapuram, Haripad, Karthikapally, Pallipad, Chingoli, Cheppad, Pathiyoor, Keerikkad, Kayamkulam, and Krishnapuram.
