Landowners set for Metro deal
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The landowners and the authorities climbed down from their earlier stand with regard to the price at which land at vital areas in the city are to be acquired for the ambitious Kochi Metro project, signalling chances of an early solution.
“The landowners, close to a 100, agreed to lower the price demanded from Rs 1 crore a cent to Rs 75 lakh even as we’ve unofficially agreed to pay Rs 50 lakh a cent,” an official said.
The authorities had started issuing notice to individuals on Monday regarding the proposed area to be acquired and the price offered under ‘Ponnumvila’ (rate fixed by the government) procedure.
“The notice issued as part of the land acquisition process allots them two weeks time. We are trying to avoid legal tangles which may delay the project. We’ll hold more discussions and hope to reach a final settlement and obtain written consent,” said district collector P.I. Sheikh Pareeth.
Under ‘Ponnumvila’, the landowners will be allocated only Rs 27 – Rs 31.35 lakh. However, the district purchase committee (DPC) has raised the price offered to Rs 40 lakh for those willing to hand over the land.
“At a meeting on Sunday, we agreed to effect a cut of Rs 25,000 from the earlier price we had demanded. Actually, the law provides for considering the highest land deal price in the area for purposes like land acquisition. However, we considered chief minister Oommen Chandy’s request as we wouldn’t want to be a hurdle to the project,” said M.V. Varghese, convenor of the Landowners’ Association.
Meanwhile, officials said a few of the landowners had already conveyed their willingness to hand over their land at the DPC price. “We’ll collect the written consent from them soon,” the official said.
The land in question is located at Banerjee Road, South Railway Station Road and the premises of Jos Junction.
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