The Aroor-based Association of Rail Doubling Affected (ARDA) has sought steps to redress the grievances of around 120 land owners when their land is acquired to double the 69 km Ernakulam-Ambalapuzha track.
They include a demand to also acquire tiny portions of land that are not needed for track doubling, relaxation of construction norms on leftover land, and alternative pathways to their houses/plots if existing pathways are acquired for the doubling process.
The Convenor of ARDA, A. P. Rajappan, a Navy retiree, said Revenue authorities have set May 25 as the deadline to vacate houses and other structures on the plots of land that have been acquired.
“Land owners will have little use of the tiny tracts of leftover land, especially if there is no proper access to them. In this circumstance, leftover lands having area less than two cents too must be acquired. In addition, the second track would pass above a 20-ft high retention wall which would come up very close to many houses and other buildings in the area, near the Aroor railway bridge. This could block access to their houses and lands that have been passed on through generations, unless alternative provisions are readied.”
Underpasses are likely only in the place of existing roads. These issues were raised even from the social impact assessment (SIA) study stage of the track-doubling project. With Revenue officials citing their constraints in acquiring land in excess of the Railway’s requirements, the association has sought the help of people’s representatives to take up these issues at the government level, he added.
Referring to many people having to surrender their land for a second time for rail development, the ARDA sought relaxation in building rules for such people.
Responding to this, Railway sources said that only land that is absolutely needed for each project is acquired, as has been the practice. Such demands, including to acquire leftover land, have been arising for track doubling and other projects in the State, often ending up in litigation, they added.
The Railway had in 2023 agreed to bear the entire cost of two pending track-doubling projects in Kerala, including the entire land-acquisition expense. The agency was hopeful of completing land acquisition in the Ernakulam-Ambalappuzha rail corridor by 2024, if the State government handed over land on time. This was to be followed by the laying of second track that could take another two years.
Aimed at completing speedy doubling of the track through Alappuzha, the Railway had divided the 69-km Ernakulam-Ambalappuzha corridor into Ernakulam-Kumbalam, Kumbalam-Thuravoor and Thuravoor-Ambalappuzha reaches.
