KOCHI: January 16 has been fixed as the last date for the owners of land earmarked for the Smart City Project to hand over their documents. Those who refuse to hand over the documents by this date will have to face acquisition proceedings, according to District Collector A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish.

Speaking at a discussion with the action council of landowners at Kakkanad on Monday, the Collector said it was decided to double the basic price for the land fixed at present.

Rehabilitation

It was also decided to rehabilitate those who would lose their residences due to the acquisition in three cents of poramboke land. Thirty-six families are estimated to lose their houses in the proceedings. The poramboke land for rehabilitation was yet to be identified.

The Collector said that those who would be ready to cooperate with the acquisition proceedings by handing over the documents on January 16 would be given the checks on January 20. Regarding the claim of the land owners for preference in job opportunities coming up in Smart City, the Collector said that he would request the State Government for giving preference to those who give land for the project in the employment schemes.

No more discussions

There would be no more discussions regarding the issue in future, said the Collector.

Information Technology Secretary Anand Singh also participated in the meeting.

However, the landowners' action council said that they would not settle for the offered amounts and decided that those who would lose their residences would start an agitation. They demanded raising the basic price to Rs.1.5 lakhs. At present, it has been fixed at Rs.29,000 per cent. The Government offers to give double this amount.

The owners are demanding Rs.80,000 per cent for filled land and Rs.50,000 for paddy fields, while the Government price is much below these amounts.

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