The district administration has initiated action to evict land owners and custodians of plots which have to be taken over for Metro Rail preparatory projects.
The authorities have issued warrants to the custodians of plots as the deadline to surrender the plots expired on Tuesday.
Warrants are being issued to those who refused to surrender the land. “Most of the land owners had surrendered the land after they received notices. Warrants are being issued to those who ignored the notice to surrender the plots,” said deputy collector K P Mohandas Pillai, who is in charge of land acquisition for Metro Rail-related projects.
“Steps have been taken to evict those who encroached land acquired on MG Road for the project,” Pillai said. He said the state government has issued clearance to reclaim 230 acres of land at Muttam which was identified for Metro Village. “Verification of documents of 41 acres of land identified for Metro Yard will also be completed soon. The price for land in this area is fixed at Rs 1.02 lakh. Completing of verification of documents will be followed by distribution of compensation. Land for seven stations and three viaducts will be finalised soon. A meeting of the district-level purchasing committee will be held in March third week to discuss the price,” he said.
The high-level committee has granted permission for the district administration to make emergency condition applicable for land acquisition to widen Vyttila-Petta road. The Metro Rail also passes through this route. A notification in this regard is expected soon, he said.
Pillai also said the Metro Rail-related activities will progress at a high pace with more number of staff joining the metro unit in the coming days. Of the 32 posts created in the Metro Unit, appointment orders have been issued to 17. The remaining posts will be filled soon,” said the Deputy Collector.
The state government has so far spent Rs 21.59 crore for land acquisition for Metro Rail preparatory projects. An amount of Rs 48.88 crore is in reserve towards the expense for acquiring land further required.
The preparatory projects include widening of Banerjee Road, MG Road and South Railway Station Road, reconstruction of North RoB, and construction of Salim Rajan Road ROB.
A total amount of Rs 70.47 crore will be spent for land acquisition for preparatory projects. The district administration had to take over 1.38 acres of land for construction of Salim Rajan Road ROB while 2.45 cents were taken over for reconstruction of North ROB.