Land acquisition for metro to be completed by May.

The district administration aims at completing the land acquisition process for the Pettah-S.N. Junction and Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium-Infopark stretches of the Kochi metro by the end of May next year.

The target is to complete the acquisition of the entire 1.11 hectares of land on the Pettah-S.N. Junction stretch by February and that of 2.86 hectares required for the Stadium-Infopark route by May.

The social impact assessment (SIA) study, mandatory for land acquisition under the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, has been completed for both the stretches.

Having completed the survey and received the nod of the State-level expert committee, the draft of the rehabilitation package for the Pettah-S.N. Junction stretch is being prepared and it is likely to be published shortly. It will be followed by a hearing later this month. Around 249 people are likely to be affected by the project. The district administration completed land acquisition along the Vyttila-Pettah stretch.

However, administrative sanction is awaited for the proposed metro station at Vadakkekotta on 97.97 acres following the change of alignment. The SIA along the area will be undertaken after receiving the sanction.

A report has been given to the State government for the publication of pre-notification of land acquisition for the Stadium-Infopark stretch. This will be followed by a survey, preparation of draft rehabilitation package and hearing before the declaration for acquisition.

The 11.2-km metro stretch between Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium and Infopark has been included in Phase 1B of the project. Altogether, 2.86 hectares under 55 different survey numbers have to be acquired from Edappally village (0.89 hectares), Vazhakkala village (0.34 and 0.67 hectares) and Kakkanad village (0.93 hectares) for the Kakkanad extension of the metro. This is in addition to the 0.0167 hectares to be acquired at Palarivattom for erecting piers.

THE HINDU