Debt-ridden landowners of 'Global City' project demand speedy rollout

Say they relocated for project, but delay in getting compensation has put them in distress

- Krishna Kumar K E @Kochi

SEVENTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD Mary P E, who resides with her aged husband, is staring at a debt of over ₹50 lakh. She rues that whatever little her sons living next door earn goes towards paying the bank loan interest. They were among the several families in Ayyampuzha panchayat, near Angamaly, who promptly bought land elsewhere four years ago when the GIFT City project was first initiated.

The plan was to set up the project—key to the larger Bengaluru-Kochi industrial corridor project—across 500 acres, with the state's share estimated at ₹500 crore. But the Centre's withdrawal has pushed the project into uncertainty. Even the name was changed to Global City following the Union government's objection. At the same time, the state government assured stakeholders that it would go ahead with the project, though at a smaller scale.