Kochi: Amid strong protest against further land acquisition in the Edappally-Moothakunnam stretch as part of widening the National Highway 17 section to 45 metres, the district administration is proceeding with its decision to acquire land for ‘ponnum-vila’ (premium price). District collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla has convened a key meeting on September 14 to decide on the procedures, including the fixation of premium price. “The meeting will be first of the series in this regard and will be attended by all local MLAs, K. V. Thomas, MP, mayor, district panchayat president and members besides the respective panchayat presidents,” a senior LA official said.
“We will offer decent price to people who are willing to give up their land for the project. If there is any debate on land value, the district administration has the power to acquire land for ‘ponnum-vila’ (premium price),” the official said. When contacted, the collector said the administration would act strictly adhering to the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. The move comes even as the NH-17 joint protest committee began a fresh round of protests against the land acquisition.
“More than 1,000 residents living on both sides of the 24-km stretch had donated land in 2008 for widening the highway to 30 metres. The land remains unutilised so far and many stretched are proving to be bottlenecks for traffic. Now they want to widen it to 45 metres and the people who already parted away a portion of their land are again hunted,” said Hashim Chendambilly, chairman of the People’s Collective. “Earlier too many land plots were acquired providing only the ‘ponnumvila’. The owners were given Rs 30, 000 when the real value was '2 lakh per cent. Though we’d obtained a court order directing the government to give higher compensation, the same is yet to be done,” he said.
