THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The dream of having a roof over their head continues to remain a distant dream for many of the displaced families in the coastal belt despite the government granting Rs 10 lakh as relief package. The villain: high land value and heavy stamp duty.
The government has allotted Rs 6 lakh for the families who lost their land to sea erosion for buying 3 cents and Rs 4 lakh for construction. Sheeba Patrick, councillor of Valiyathura, one of the biggest fishing hamlet in the state capital, said it impossible to find land at Rs 2 lakh per cent. Worse, each family has to pay Rs 48,000 as stamp duty.
"The fair value the government has fixed for the area is Rs 3 lakh a cent," Ms Patrick said. “How would the government expect us to findthe land at a price they fixed?”
She said the market value is more than twice the fair value. “And then, the unaffordable stamp duty,” she said. “We want the government to exempt these beneficiaries from it. We will be approaching the government for exemption. Also we would urge the government to allot Rs 20 lakh for the families as Rs 10 lakh is insufficient."
A revenue official said that the families should widen their search to get the land at this rate. "There is land available at Menamkulam and Kadinamkulam which are closer to the sea. We have given them the choice and freedom to select the land for constructing a home," said a revenue official.
