Public hearing held on Vyttila-Pettah rd widening

Kochi: A public hearing was conducted as part of the social impact assessment (SIA) regarding Vyttila-Pettah Road widening project on Monday.
The hearing was conducted by Rajagiri Outreach, which is entrusted with the SIA study by the district administration, at St James Church Parish Hall at Chambakkara near Vyttila.
As per the draft SIA study report submitted by Rajagiri Outreach to the district administration, 18 people would lose their landed properties, 79 buildings would have to be demolished, and properties of 16 people that comprise of buildings and lands would be affected. Of the total properties that would get affected, 69.9% would be buildings, said the draft report submitted to the district administration two weeks ago.
Of the total properties involved in the project, 58.4% would be fully impacted whereas 39.8% would be partially affected, with information regarding 1.8% of properties not being revealed, the report said.
Livelihood of 72.6% of the project-affected families would be impacted, with over 60% belonging to businesses and store fronts, said the report.
Total requirement of land for the project would be 1.4123 hectares, with the extent of government property comprising 0.06 hectares of the project.
M P Antony, project director of Rajagiri Outreach, said, “We had submitted the draft report to district collector K Mohammed Y Safirulla two weeks ago. People are ready to hand over land for the project. But they feel insecure on what will happen after handing over land”.