THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Who’s to blame - District administration or NH bypass action council? The construction work of Mukkola-Karode road remains in limbo since two weeks. The 16.5-kilometre stretch, which is the first concrete road to be built in the state, was taken over by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) last year as part of the development of the second phase of NH bypass from Kazhakoottam to Kerala -Tamil Nadu border.
The road works began after L and T constructions won the bid. However, an action council formed by the local residents intervened and got the work halted on May 11. They were demanding revision of the compensation payment pattern.
They wanted uniform compensation for all the residents living along the stretch. These demands were raised by the council even after the residents were compensated amply.
However, neither the government nor the district administration is doing anything to end the impasse. As a result NHAI is paying a hefty amount as compensation to the contractor everyday.
An action council member said the residents want at least 30 per cent solatium similar to the one given out for the Karamana-Kaliyikkavila NH 66 development and also 14 per cent interest for the delay in dispensation.
“We are not against any development. But want some relief in compensation amount. There is huge anomalies in the manner the compensation was decided. The land price at each village is different. But we want all the five villages to be treated as a single village with each plot of land getting the same price,” said V Sudhakaran, action council chairman.
The action council also demanded rehabilitation for those who lost their homes. Last week a meeting was convened by the District Collector in which the members of the action council participated. But it yielded no positive outcome.
P Savitha, Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition, NH) told ‘Express’ that the only option left is to convene an arbitration meeting to hear disputes and find a solution.“At the arbitration meeting, the district administration will hear the complaints raised by the land owners. If their complaints are found genuine, we will give them top priority.
However, the action council is demanding a hike in compensation and that is not practical. Since we are following the Land Acquisition Act 1956, we can’t revise the compensation amount. However, we have handed over the file pertaining to this matter to the government and discussions are on to resolve the issue at the earliest,” Savitha said. The district administration had provided Rs 445 crore to those who had surrendered their land.
Sources said there are moves to scuttle the project. Even the sitting MLAs of the left front are raising objections on the road project. Recently, Neyyattinkara MLA Anselan supported an agitation held by the action council even after they were paid the compensation amount much earlier as per the LA act.
According to NHAI project director, R Venkatakrishnan, the demands being made by the action council are outrageous.
“They demand a hike in compensation after collecting the money from the government. This is unjustifiable,” he said. The NHAI officials said they won’t be hiking the compensation amount. If this uncertainty continues, the commissioning of the road will get delayed. The tentative date for the completion of the second phase of the project is February next year. NHAI is paying Rs 20 lakh to the contractor on a daily basis.
The stretch passes through five villages- Kottukal, Kanjiramkulam, Thirupuram, Chenkal and Karode. Over 90 percent of the 1,769 land owners have been compensated. The land is being acquired at a cost of around Rs 460 crore. The preliminary cost of the second phase of the project is estimated to be Rs 804.97 crore.