TOI: Kochi: Saturday, February 20, 2016
Landowners - who were evicted for Pachalam rail over bridge (ROB) - have lodged a petition with the vigilance director seeking an inquiry into the 'irregularities related to the construction and land acquisition for the Pachalam rail over bridge (ROB)'.
The petition filed by the Pachalam Action Council leaders, the revenue department gave only half the amount 'allotted by the government through a special order'.
As the state government hadn't framed the rules for Right To Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (which came into force in January 2014), the government had issued a special order for acquiring land at Pachalam.
"The government order for land acquisition had fixed the price at Rs 35 lakh/cent, but authorities gave only Rs 15 lakh. Even the market value here is Rs 20-25 lakh, Where is the remaining amount? We have asked the vigilance director to peruse the irregularities," said Josy Mathew, general secretary of the action council.
Another allegation raised by the council is that the construction cost of the ROB was inflated. "Delhi Metro Rail Corporation had constructed an ROB almost double the size of Pachalam ROB at Rs 10.5 crore. The RTI reply we got for Pachalam ROB is that the cost was Rs 39 crore and the construction cost was Rs 29 crore," Josy said.
Meanwhile, Suja Zachariah, a landowner from Kadavanthra has moved the high court on Thursday seeking more compensation for the land taken from her for Metro works.
She has filed a complaint that revenue authorities took over nearly 4 cents from her at Kadavanthra without providing proper compensation.
In her petition, Zachariah submitted that she is unwilling to surrender her property for the price fixed by district-level purchase committee (DLPC). Though the DLPC settlement price is 30 lakh/cent, the market value in the vicinity is Rs 40 to 50 lakhs/cent, the petitioner argued.
Another contention in the petition is that the land owner is entitled to 100% of the land value and an equal amount is to be paid as solatium.
So, the land owners should be around 90 lakh a cent by following the new LA act.
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