Thiruvananthapuram: The Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) has agreed to double the compensation for those who give consent to lay the LNG pipeline through their property from five times of its fair value. The decision taken at a meeting chaired by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan would be applicable for all land taken over for the project since 2012. The government would finalise the list of beneficiaries. The new package would increase the quantum of compensation by Rs 116 crore. For those who have less than ten cents, the land used for laying the pipeline would be restricted to two metres on one side of the property, and their houses would be protected.
In places where there are no houses, the alignment would be restricted to ten metres on one side. A land document marking the place for constructing the house which can also be utilised as building sanction in the future will be issued to the landowners. The meeting also decided to provide an amount of Rs 5 lakh as ex-gratia for landowners with less than ten cents. The present law does not allow the laying of pipeline under houses.
Hence, the alignment would be decided in such a way that it goes through one side of the homes. There were complaints that the compensation of paddy was very low among the compensation fixed for crops. For this, the package announced for taking over paddy field in Kannur district for development work would be made applicable in all districts - Rs 3,761 for every cent additionally.
