Even as an all-party meeting has extended its whole-hearted support to the proposed Sabarimala Greenfield airport, a public hearing on the draft Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report on the project here on Monday saw people raising various objections over the land acquisition plan.
Around 370 persons, mostly from Cheruvally estate and Ozhakkanad in Erumely South village, attended the public hearing at Erumely during the day. Sebastian Kulathunkal, MLA, inaugurated the session, which also witnessed attendance by officials of the Revenue department and the agency that had conducted the SIA.
Though the draft report found that the acquisition of land for the project will directly affect as many as 579 families, several of the participants pointed out that it failed to take into account the complete impact of the project on the families to be displaced. Taking note of the public sentiment, Mariyamma Sunny, president, Erumely panchayat, declared that a special meeting would soon be convened by the local body to discuss the project’s impact.
“One of the major concerns raised by the residents pertained to a proposal by the authorities to acquire land outside the Cheruvally estate – the key project area, while leaving out parts of the estate,” Ms. Sunny said.
The authorities are now slated to hear from the people of Manimala village, who are also reportedly affected by the project. The final SIA report will be prepared by taking into account the opinions raised by the affected people.
Special package sought
Earlier, an all-party meeting here had urged the State government to implement a special package for the families being displaced by the project. The meeting also sought to accord priority to the affected persons in recruitment for the airport project and also during the sale of its share holdings.
The State government seeks to take over 1,039.876 hectare (2,570 acre) of land at Erumely South and Manimala villages in Kanjirappally taluk, which will also include 123.53 hectres of land outside the Cheruvally estate. As per the draft SIA, as many as 358 landowners and 221 workers living inside the Cheruvally estate will be directly affected by the project.
Among those who are set to lose their livelihood also include people who run various business establishments in its neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, the authorities are slated to hold a public convention to address concerns raised by the local residents on the project at Erumely on June 24.
