Land acquisition process begins for IT park in Malappuram

MALAPPURAM: Igniting fresh hope, district collector K Biju has asked revenue officials to submit a detailed report on land to be acquired for the first IT park in Malappuram.
Along with the report, the collector has also directed revenue officials to submit the survey number of land to be acquired from each person along with the area.
The project, proposed to be set up at Areekode three years ago, has been held up mainly due to hurdles related to land acquisition.Local residents had strongly come up against the move to acquire land for the park. The district collector has, meanwhile, said that the land would be acquired only after considering the opinion of residents.
The government had in 2011 sanctioned the proposal to set up the Rs 400-crore IT park at Areekode with the support of Kinfra.
Protesters, however, alleged that the project will result in the evacuation of over 1,000 families in the region. At a meeting in Malappuram on Friday, Technopark CEO K Gireesh Kumar informed officials that the land which has been identified is ideal for the project. Local MLA P K Basheer said no residential land would be acquired for the project and that landowners will be compensated with an amount equivalent to the market rate of land here.