THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The land acquisition for the development of the Karamana-Vellarada road--connecting Poojapura, Peyad, Kattakada and Kallikadu--is moving at a snail’s pace. Though the revenue department has given the nod to acquire land for the same, a stretch of only 5.5km from Karamana to Kundamankadu of the 35.5km road has been completed, said a source.
A dispute exists between landowners and the revenue department over land acquisition for the remaining part of the project. ‘’Though only a two-lane road is proposed, land acquisition is posing hurdles as over 2,000 commercial and residential buildings are situated on either side of the road, said a resident who do not want to be named.
The demarcation and laying of boundary stones for the project which would be taken up in two phases, were completed earlier. The first 20km will be covered in the initial phase and another 15.5km in the second phase.
The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Rs 255.3-crore project undertaken by the Road Infrastructure Company Kerala (RICK) is yet to be approved by the state government and is under scrutiny. RICK managing director, Saijamol N Jacob, told TNIE that land acquisition proceedings are in progress for the second reach from Kundamankadavu to Vellarada.
“Acquisition proceedings for the first reach from Karamana to Kundamankadavu have been completed. However, the proceedings in the next stretch till the end of the road at Vellarada are in progress. The revenue department needs to hand over the land to us to start the work. Similarly, the state government can approve the DPR only after completing land acquisition,” she said.
Meanwhile, a top revenue official said that the department is trying to complete the proceedings at the earliest. Though the road will be upgraded with drains, footpaths, and street lights as per Indian Road Congress standards, it will be retained as a two-lane road. The stretch will decongest the Thiruvananthapuram-Kattakada road and further up to Vellarada near the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border.