Vizhinjam-Navaikulam Outer Ring Road: property owners move Kerala High Court for compensation

Stung by the protracted delay in providing compensation for the land acquired for the Outer Ring Road project in the capital, property owners along the Vizhinjam-Navaikulam area have approached the Kerala High Court seeking earlier relief.

They approached the court after the government failed to provide compensation even three years after acquiring land and buildings for the Vizhinjam-Navaikulam Ring Road project.

The High Court accepted the petition on Thursday and directed that notice be sent to the Union government and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) through the Union government counsel and to the Kerala government through the government pleader. Considering the plea, Justice C. Jayachandran directed that the case be heard again on September 30.

According to the petition, around 5,000 families along the stretch have been affected by the project and by the callousness of the State government.

With the issuance of the 3D notification, most farmers along the stretch are unable to use their land or cultivate it, get even an education/medical loan, build a house, or rebuild their dilapidated buildings. They are not even allowed to fell trees leaning dangerously over their houses, alleged the petitioners.

The land acquisition process was proceeding quickly during the initial stages. The officials had promised that the acquisition would be completed in six months to one year, and the rehabilitation process would begin at the earliest, the petitioners said. When many other land acquisition projects had faced public opposition, the people along the stretch welcomed the dream project of the State with open hands. Those who pledged gold and took loans to make advance payment for buying new plots were now in a state of distress as they had not received compensation yet. Many lives had been lost due to this trauma, the petitioners alleged. The compensation was being delayed by changing the alignment, and the order of the Kerala State Human Rights Commission to pay compensation by July 7, 2025, had not been implemented yet.

Five persons whose land will be acquired filed a petition under the auspices of the Vizhinjam ORR Land Owner’s Welfare Movement on September 9, demanding immediate payment of the land price and rehabilitation amount to those whose land would be acquired in the area where the 3D notification was issued and environmental clearance has been granted.

Ajith G. Nair, president of the movement, said that those who gave up land for the progress of the State were facing various threats of confiscation, and the government should urgently intervene and provide protection to the property owners.