After much delay, the process of land acquisition for the construction of a bridge across the Pampa river connecting Kavalam and Thattassery in Kuttanad seems to be finally back on track.
According to sources, a private agency that conducted a socio-environmental impact assessment for the project will submit its report to the Revenue Department on Wednesday. As much as 185 cents of land in possession of 46 landowners in 68 survey numbers will have to be acquired for the project.
Officials say that once the report is received, they would start the process of finalising compensation to the landowners.
Consent letters
G. Harikrishnan, convener, Kavalam Palam Sampadaka Samiti, says that almost all landowners have handed over their consent letters. The authorities should now expedite the process and acquire the land, Mr. Harikrishnan says.
In 2016, the State government allocated ₹30 crore for the construction of the bridge and approach road. The estimate was later revised to ₹52.5 crore following changes made in the design.
The original plan was to acquire the land through direct negotiated purchase. However, some landowners demanded a change in the alignment.
As the alignment was fixed by the Inland Waterways Authority, officials said it could not be changed and it effectively ended the move to acquire land through negotiated purchase.
Following this, in November 2018 the Revenue Department announced that the Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act would be invoked to acquire land for the construction of the bridge.
No follow-up
The landowners were given time till December 1, 2018 to hand over the consent letters. However, the authorities failed to take follow-up action. It was after local residents petitioned Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan the process gained some momentum.
Once constructed, the bridge and approach road will be 396.21 metres long. The bridge and walkway together will have a width of 11 metres.
The opening of the bridge will help reduce the distance between Alappuzha and Kottayam by around 9 km along with opening the doors of development to the remote areas of Kuttanad.
