KOCHI: Residents of Ayyampuzha panchayat, where the state government plans to acquire 220 hectares of land for the proposed Global Industrial Finance and Trade (GIFT) City project, have alleged that private parties are setting up industrial units without official permits in the area in a bid to seek undue compensation from the government.
According to residents, a group has installed defunct machinery in Ayyampuzha in the name of setting up a drinking water purification unit, without even getting the approval of the panchayat, to fool officials into providing them with compensation.
“They purchased the land recently and are trying to cheat the officials. The GIFT City was announced almost two years ago. The only motive behind setting up a new industrial unit here now is to get compensation from the government,” said Jose Chullikkaran, convener of Janakeeya Munnetta Samithi.
Meanwhile, it has been alleged that most of the recommendations made by residents for the project were not included in the report submitted before the government. “A public hearing was held. But most of the and concerns raised by the public were not included in the report,” alleged samithi secretary Bijoy Cheriyan.