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Vallarpadam land transfer soon

K.P. Rajendran: State has offered satisfactory rehabilitation package.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran has said the State government will hand over the land for building roads and railway line for the Vallarpadam container terminal in Kochi on August 16.

The Minister told the media here on Thursday that the land had been acquired before July 31 as per a memorandum of understanding entered into between the State and Central governments. With that, the State government has fulfilled all measures required from its part for the project.

The Minister recalled that the government had offered a satisfactory rehabilitation package for those who had been evicted. Eighty-five of them will be given land on August 16 and the rest shortly. They have been provided with 10 months’ rent (Rs.50,000) for interim accommodation.

Mr. Rajendran said that 198 households at six villages in Neyyattinkara and Thiruvananthapuram taluks would have to be evicted for developing infrastructure facilities for the proposed Vizhinjam international transhipment terminal. The land for their rehabilitation will be acquired along with the land for the infrastructure facilities. Discussions on land acquisition on a fast-track basis will be held next week.

He said the handing over of the keys of houses constructed by the Maharastra government for tsunami victims at Alapad had been postponed to August 18. The Maharastra government directly undertook the construction of the houses after the Kerala government had made the land available. The first phase of 118 houses has been completed.

Maharastra is funding 250 houses at a cost of Rs.9 crore. Besides, it will provide Rs.3 crore for the development of the taluk hospital at Karunagapally.

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