KOCHI: While stone laying for land acquisition of Edappally-Moothakunnam stretch of National Highway 66 is swiftly going ahead, the residents allege that the district administration has outrightly ignored their concerns in the time of Covid-19.The much-delayed process that began last month has been witnessing protests from various quarters. “When people are worried about their survival from Covid, the government is treating us inhumanely through the process.
Over 2,000 families on the stretch have already gone through one phase of land acquisition for 30m widening and were miserably affected during the 2018 deluge. We have decided to resist all forms of official proceedings hereafter,” said Hashim Chennampilly, chairman, National Highway Joint Protest Committee.Currently, the highway which has only a width of 10 metres is widened by 7.5 metres on both ends. “Though the officials maintain that they will only mark the area, the real intention is to execute the section 3D declaration under the Highway Act. It means that the entire area has become officially under the control of the Union government. Owners lose their right over the land without getting any clarity on the compensation or rehabilitation decisions,” he said.
As per the official discussions till date, there is no mention of rehabilitation, alleges the committee. “Other than agreeing upon the compensation package, no guarantee has been given regarding the rehabilitation. Besides, they are yet to conduct the environmental impact assessment for the project. Still, they show complete ignorance towards our proposal for an elevated highway which costs much less than actual expense of the current widening,” said Chennampilly.
According to them, only `2296 crore is required for the elevated highway. While civil work of 45m widening will cost Rs 1130 crores sans land acquisition expenses of `1690 crore. The 24.3 km stretch passes through villages like Alangad, Moothakunnam, North Paravur, Vadakkekara and Varapuzha. According to NHAI estimates, a total of 325 houses and 150 commercial buildings will be completely demolished.Responding to the allegations, an official involved in the land acquisition said, “we have delayed the process a lot. If we do not complete the process on time, tendering and other related works will be derailed. Our officials are running against time to ensure the much-awaited development.”