Kochi: The delay in releasing requisite funds has stalled the land acquisition proc-ess for construction of railway over bridge (RoB) at Vaduthala, while the failure of Kochi Corporation in handing over the requisite land to Roads and Bridges Corporation Kerala (RBDCK) has kept the RoB project at Atlantis in the backburner.
A top official in the district administration connected with land acquisition told this newspaper on Tuesday that so far no funds have been received from the government for the Vaduthala land acquisition. On the statement by PWD minister G. Sudhakaran in the state Assembly that Rs 15 lakh has been released as contingency fund for land acquisition for Vaduthala RoB on July 2018, the official said he is not aware of it. The amount has not been credited to land acquisition department, he said.
Stating that there was no delay on the part of the land acquisition department and the district administration in connection with the Vaduthala RoB project, the official said that social impact assessment of the project has been completed despite the non-release of fund for the project by the agency concerned. The project has been approved by the expert committee comprising two social scientists and heads of the local bodies in the region.
According to the official the Vaduthala RoB will require acquisition of over five acres of land and it would take at least six months for the completion of the process. The acquisition will be based on the 2013 Act and formalities connected with Act have to be complied with including gazette notification and opportunity for the persons affected by the project to represent their grievances before the process could be completed.
A senior RBDCK official told DC on Tuesday that the Kochi Corporation has not handed over the land it has acquired so far for the Atlantis RoB and no resolution from the civic body has been forwarded to RBDCK in this regard. The official said that Kochi Corporation needs to acquire more land for Atlantis RoB and also for rehabilitation of people affected by the project and handover the same to RBDCK. The same was conveyed at a meet by RBDCK managing director A.T. James to the assistant engineer of Kochi Corporation who took part in the meeting on January 19, he said.
The Kerala Infrastr-ucture Investment Fund Board (KIFFB) has approved '51.81 crore for the Vaduthala RoB project in July 2016 while '90 crore was sanctioned for Atlantis RoB in November 2018.
The works. however, have not taken-off despite RBDCK being designated as the implementing agency for the ventures.
