KOCHI: Despite the state government’s best efforts to expedite the second phase of the Seaport-Airport Road project, the final phase of land acquisition in the 6.5-km-long NAD-Mahilalayam section has been entangled in hurdles. The improper land documents being submitted by the landowners for compensation and the inadequate staff at the special tahsildar’s office to process the paperwork is poised to delay the process by another six months.
There are over 500 land holdings in the NAD Junction-Mahilalayam section. While the hearings have been held in 250 cases, the awards -- which determine the compensation payable to the affected individuals -- have been issued only in 18 cases.
“Over 50 landowners have failed to appear for the hearings despite the notice being served to them. It has been two months now and we’ll wait for one more month, before forwarding the cases to the court. Then they have to obtain the compensation through the court, which is again a time-consuming process,” said a senior official of the office of the special tahsildar (LA), KIIFB.
A major issue being faced is the improper land documents being submitted by the landowners. Many lack key documents like encumbrance certificate. “While the land acquisition process has entered the final stage, the issuance of award of compensation is getting delayed as a majority of landowners need to visit the office multiple times to complete the document submission process. This is even as we’re trying to speed up the project as the state government is required to provide interest rates as well to the landowners,” he said.
Meanwhile, the lack of inadequate staff at the special tahsildar (LA) office has also hit the process. The special tahsildar has written a letter to the district collector, to provide an additional five staff to speed up the process. “Currently a single clerk is dealing all the paperworks and clearing the files. It will take another six months for the process to be completed. However, the work could be finished in the next three months if five more staff are provided,” the official said.
All other measures, including the publishing of the notification and declaration of the land acquisition of the project are over. The issuance of notice to landowners and the conduct of hearings to address objections are also in the final stage. Once the award for compensation is issued to a landowner, the same has to be approved by the district collector. The special tahsildar then issues the final award and a bill is prepared. Once the treasury approves the same, the compensation amount will be credited to the bank account of the land holder.
A sum of `588.11 crore has been handed over to the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK) for the land acquisition and construction activities in the NAD-Mahilalayam stretch. The state government included the project as one of the flagship projects that should be taken up on a priority basis.
The second phase of the Seaport-Airport road, a 14.3-km-long stretch from Kalamassery HMT Road to Nedumbassery airport, was in cold storage for over two decades. However, the project received a new lease of life when the state government put forth a new model before the Supreme Court to unlock the deadlock, especially with regard to the acquisition of the land belonging to HMT. The state said it would deposit the cost of land (Rs 37.90 crore) with the court to proceed with the land acquisition and the court granted the permission.
The Seaport-Airport Road project covers a total of 25.7 km from Irumpanam to Kochi airport and has been divided into two phases. The implementing agency RBDCK completed the first phase, from Irumpanam to Kalamassery, covering 11.3 km, in 2003 and handed over the same to PWD in 2020.