Crucial meeting on Outer Ring Road to discuss compensation disbursal
: State govt is poised to take a decisive step on Thursday regarding the much-awaited Outer Ring Road (ORR) project from Vizhinjam to Navaikulam at a high-level meeting convened by chief minister's chief principal secretary K M Abraham.
It will be attended by representatives from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), PWD and revenue department. They will discuss pending compensation for hundreds of landowners whose title deeds remain held at revenue offices.
Sources said the meeting was to ensure the timely dispensation of compensation to affected landowners. The meeting will also focus on the cost-sharing between state and the Centre, which currently remains at 50-50.
Landowners, represented by action council member S Chandramohan Nair, met with NHAI's regional officer A K Janbaz on Monday to voice their growing concerns. "It has been three years and govt should return our title deeds or immediately give us the compensation," Nair said. He warned of an indefinite hunger strike if matters were not resolved soon. "People gave up their land for this project in good faith and development cannot come at the cost of people's basic rights," he added.
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In May this year, landowners staged a sit-in at NHAI's Chackai office, following which NHAI regional officer B L Meena assured them in writing that compensation would be paid within a month or the project would be cancelled. Yet, disbursements remain stalled, even though district administration transferred Rs 700 crore to NHAI in Jan.
Complicating the situation, a Supreme Court ruling on May 16 struck down a 2017 notification permitting post-facto environmental clearances, stalling the northern segment between Thekkada and Navaikulam as the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) committee lapsed in March.
While the southern stretch from Vizhinjam to Thekkada received clearance in 2023, the northern section's progress is legally frozen until new clearance procedures are in place.
Meanwhile, a senior PWD official said that "After meeting with minister Riyas and Union Minister Gadkari, the Centre was likely to give final approval to the detailed project report by the end of July." The official added that compensation and tendering could begin in Aug.
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