Realignment to delay National Highway widening in Kollam

KOLLAM: The National Highway widening along NH-66 in Kollam will be delayed  owing to the mismatch in the realignment of the road and the associated statement generated on land acquisition. The realignment after marking the central line has  already been submitted to the revenue department. However, there is mismatch in the area to be acquired from each property.  The activists, including the evictees,  have also pointed out several inconsistencies in the new alignment.

The NH realignment has been entrusted to a Bengaluru-based company for Rs 6.5 crore. The central line for the new alignment has been marked, but the evictees have found disproportionate land acquisition in several places. “Two months back, a list was prepared notifying the area to be acquired from each property on either side of the road. However, there is a huge mismatch in the central line marked and the list of land to be acquired. The revenue department itself was perplexed by this,”  Mr Abdul Azeez, state patron, Highway Action Forum, told DC.

The  department has directed the company to prepare a new list  in accordance with the central line marked. The National Highway-66 is in principle not under the National Highway Authority of India complicating matters further.  The NHAI that has already denotified the road from its list has put  the burden of work on the state government, according to an RTI filed by the forum. “The NHAI should at first take over the highway  to proceed with the work.  It is not legally a party in this,” Mr. Azeez added. The evictees have expressed concern over the unscientific calculation of compensation.  The urban areas will get twice and rural areas four times the market price which is estimated with the average of land value recorded in land documents and not the real market price outside, they have alleged.