An action committee of owners of land identified for the third phase of acquisition for the proposed Kannur International Airport near Mattannur here has demanded that the package implemented by the previous government in the second phase be effected for this phase too, after revising the rates.
At a press conference here on Monday, the action committee leaders said that the committee had been formed under the initiative of the Kerala Karshaka Sangham (KKS), after a discussion by the District Purchasing Committee (DPC) with landowners on compensation failed. An extent of 783 acres (316.86 hectare) spread over Velliyamparamba, Elambara, Kariyil, Kuttikkara, and Karakotheri would be acquired in this phase for the airport.
The committee members said that they had consulted Mattannur MLA E.P. Jayarajan and then met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Excise Minister K. Babu, Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Rural Development Minister K.C. Joseph and Agriculture Minister K.P. Mohanan to convey their dissatisfaction on the discussion with the DPC. Though the Ministers' response was positive, the DPC — with the District Collector as its convener — had not changed its stand, they said.
The committee would organise a Collectorate march of all people who would lose their land on December 8 and submit a memorandum to the Collector. Mr. Jayarajan would inaugurate the march. They said that the market value of the land had increased and the value of rupee had come down since the land acquisition package was implemented by the previous government three years ago. These realities should be considered while fixing the rate for the land to be acquired, they said.
Alleging anomalies in fixing the basic rate of the land, they said that the land identified for acquisition had been categorised into A, B, and C in an unscientific manner. The committee also demanded that the DPC members visit the areas identified for acquisition, examine the land and re-assess the basic rate.
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