August 15 set as deadline to complete survey to acquire land for Kochi Bypass

The survey for the much-delayed Kundannur-Angamaly NH 544 Bypass corridor (Kochi Bypass) has got a shot in the arm, with the Revenue department fixing August 15 as the deadline to complete the survey to acquire an estimated 290 hectares for the corridor that is expected to considerably decongest Kochi and its immediate suburbs.

Aimed at this, surveyors have been posted in each of the 18 villages through which the 44.70-km-long greenfield highway will pass. The development is being seen as a last-ditch effort to complete the survey process, before the one-year deadline for the 3(A) notification expires on August 28. “The 3[D] notification ought to be published before this date to prevent expiry of the 3[A] notification, for which the survey works ought to be completed by early August,” official sources said.

Sources in the Revenue department said surveyors, who had fanned across the 18 villages through which the alignment of the proposed Kochi Bypass would pass, are in the process of consolidating details like survey numbers and the precise extent of plots that ought to be acquired. “They have been directed to consolidate the details and to submit them by the first week of August. It is hoped that more personnel will be deputed at land acquisition offices to complete the paperwork. The survey process suffered delay due to inadequate number of surveyors and delays in laying boundary stones on the alignment for the proposed bypass,” they said.

The critical 3(D) notification will shed light on the types of land that will be acquired for the corridor, buildings and vegetation like trees and crops on them, and their monetary value. For this, valuation reports submitted by half-a-dozen departments (like the PWD-Buildings wing and Agriculture and Forest departments) would be taken into account, the sources said.

Once constructed, the proposed six-lane greenfield corridor that has been christened ‘Kochi Bypass’ and will link Netoor, located south of Kundannur Junction on the NH bypass with Karayamparambu located beyond Angamaly, is expected to decongest the ill-maintained Edappally–Aroor NH 66 bypass (owned by the National Highways Authority of India) and the Edappally–Angamaly NH 544 stretch. Traffic hold-ups are becoming acute as days pass by on the two largely four-lane stretches.

Demand to fast-track

Hoping that the ongoing survey would be completed by August, Deekshith K.S., convenor of the Thiruvankulam village committee of Kundannoor-Angamaly NH Bypass Action Council, said the entire land acquisition process, including payment of compensation to landowners and taking possession of their land, ought to ideally get over by March 2026. “For this, the publishing of the other critical notifications must follow the 3[D] notification.”

The office-bearers of the action council met Union Minister George Kurian, Minister for Industries and Law P. Rajeeve, and the Land Revenue Commissioner to fast-track the project, so that ground-level construction works can begin at the earliest. The disputes regarding the fixing of different valuations for old and new buildings ought to be settled, since the rehabilitation expense for both sets of landowners would be the same, he added.

Meanwhile, Maradu municipality, from whose jurisdiction (Netoor) the proposed greenfield NH corridor will begin, formed an action council on Tuesday (July 22), seeking fair compensation for people from the region whose land and buildings would be acquired. “They must be compensated as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The NHAI must acquire the entire building, in instances where owners say that they do not need partly acquired buildings,” said Antony Ashanparambil, chairman of the municipality.