Notice issued to textile firm to surrender land before March 18. The stage is set for the acquisition of land owned by a textile showroom at the north end of M.G. Road and of a jewellery at Edappally by force or under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, as the owners are vacillating on surrendering land for the metro rail project. While the two business houses delayed the process by two years, small, medium and big land owners willingly surrendered their land for the project in 2013 and 2014. “There cannot be any further delay in acquiring land as metro’s civil contractors are unable to construct the metro viaduct through the two properties though they repeatedly mobilised men and machinery,” metro sources said. Talks fail “Many rounds of negotiations with owners of the two big business houses for obtaining land for the Kochi metro failed to yield results. The Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) was even willing to relax a few norms for taking over 32 cents of land from the textile firm, provided a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was inked on the same. But the terms and conditions were frequently changed, causing confusion. The agency now has no other option but to take over the land by paying compensation (at Rs. 52 lakh per cent),” sources said. Five metro pillars are expected to come up on the textile showroom’s land, while the landing and other amenities of Edappally metro station are planned on land owned by the jewellery. The district administration had issued a notice to the textile firm to surrender land before March 18 or face forcible acquisition. “Once acquired under the Land Acquisition Act, the KMRL will become the sole owner of the land below the viaduct,” sources said. Both the KMRL and the district administration had warned as early as November 2014 of forcible acquisition of land owned by recalcitrant owners. KMRL managing director Elias George said the ball was now in the district administration’s court. “We are very keen to conclude metro’s land acquisition process by this week and the two plots of land are crucial to take the project forward. We do not want to lose out on the last working season (without rainfall),” Mr. George said, referring to the revised October deadline to complete the metro rail’s civil works. The third parcel of small tracts of land that are yet to be acquired fully is on the stretch between St. Mark’s Church in Palarivattom and Kaloor. The road here is extremely narrow, so much so that it is preventing launch of girders atop metro pillars. Mr. George said requisite land in the stretch would be taken over in a week and compensation was being paid to land owners. Sources in the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said the Commissioner for Railway Safety would not permit the metro to go beyond Edappally if uncertainty prevailed over acquiring plots owned by the two big firms. “This is because it is mandatory to have landings on either side for commuters to enter or exit metro stations. The metro works at Edappally can be readied by December only if requisite land is handed over this month. Similarly, metro viaduct through the land owned by the textile showroom is possible by October only if land is handed over this month,” they said.