Seaport-Airport Phase 2 Development Caught in Land Records Bind

Improper land documents being submitted by owners for compensation & insufficient staff at special tahsildar's office to delay process by another six months

- Krishna Kumar K E @Kochi

Despite the state government's best efforts to expedite the second phase of the Seaport-Airport Road project, the final phase of land acquisition in the 6.5-km-long NAD-Mahilalayam section has been entangled in hurdles. The improper land documents being submitted by the landowners for compensation and the inadequate staff at the special tahsildar's office to process the paperwork is poised to delay the process by another six months.

There are over 500 land holdings in the NAD Junction-Mahilalayam section. While hearings have been held in 250 cases, the awards--which determine the compensation payable to the affected individuals--have been issued only in 18 cases.

"Over 50 landowners have failed to appear for the hearings despite the notice being served to them. It has been two months now and we'll wait for one more month before forwarding the cases to the court. Then they have to obtain the compensation through the court, which is again a time-consuming process," said a senior official of the office of the special tahsildar (LA), KIIFB.