The preparatory steps for commencing the acquisition of land for the Sabarimala Greenfield International Airport in Erumely took off to a formal start on Monday with a digital mapping of the project area.
According to revenue officials, the proceedings commenced in the morning from the eastern end of proposed project area. Government Chief Whip N. Jayaraj and Poonjar MLA, Sebastian Kulathungal were present on the occasion.
The government has already issued an order to acquire a total of 1,039.876 hectares (2,570 acres) of land in Erumeli and Manimala villages in Kanjirappally taluk for the construction and development of the airport. This includes 2,263.18 acres of land in the Cheruvally Estate, currently owned by the Ayana Charitable Trust under K P Yohannan’s Believers’ Church, and an additional 307 acres outside the estate.
According to officials, the digital surveying will give a clear picture of the exact land required for the project.
“Our primary focus is to ascertain the actual land required outside the estate and to check whether we could limit this requirement to 200 acres,” said an official.
Meridian Surveys and Mapping, a Kochi-based company has been assigned the task of mapping the project area and marking the boundaries. They are expected to complete the work, carried out under the supervision of the project consultant - Louis Berger Consulting Pvt. Ltd, within two months.
Based on the mapping, the Revenue department will issue a notification under section 11 (1) (publication of preliminary notification and power of officers) of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act (LARRA), 2013. Subsequently, the government will commence the official survey of the land as per section 12 and prepare a file on the precise extent of land to be acquired along with its survey numbers. This will be followed by the declaration of rehabilitation and resettlement (RR) package under section 19 (1) of LARRA Act and awarding of solatium to the land owners after serving notices.
The notification, meanwhile also enables the government to proceed with the acquisition of the Cheruvally estate, which constitutes the major project area, by depositing the property’s value in the court
