VIJAYAWADA: In a fresh step towards realising the Metro Railway project in the city, the officials of Amaravati Metro Rail Corporation (AMRC) on Tuesday met representatives of German and French development banks — KfW and Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) — and informed them about the land acquisition procedure for the project.
A team from the KfW and the AFD had visited the city in the first week of November 2016 and studied the project feasibility, sources said.
At that time, the state government submitted a proposal to sanction a loan of Rs 4,000 crore and banks agreed in principle to fund the project. However, the bank representatives did not reveal details of the individual contributions to the project.
On Tuesday, District collector Babu A gave a power-point presentation to the KfW and AFD representatives regarding the procedure to be followed in acquiring land for the metro project.
Speaking on the occasion, the Collector said that land acquisition for the project is being done only with the consent of landholders after holding public hearings. He informed the officials that proper rehabilitation and resettlement would be provided to the affected families and said that no landholder will incur a loss due to the project.
“Majority of the people who lose their housing lands as part of the project are seeking for alternative lands and we will look into it. Those who lose their livelihood will be granted Pradhan Mantri Mudra Loans and those who lose house will get the house under PM Awaz Yojana or NTR Housing Scheme,” he explained.
District joint collector Gandham Chandrudu has informed the delegations from AFD and KfW that a total of 76.9 acres is required for Mahatma Gandhi Road and Eluru Road corridors of the project out of which 68.4 acres is private land and 8.3 acres is government land.
“Through resettlement and rehabilitation, issues pertaining to the resistance from the public will be solved at the earliest and land acquisition process will be completed without any delay,” he said.
AMRC Managing Director N Ramakrishna Reddy, sub-collector Balaji and other officials present on the occasion.