Kalam memorial site inspected; plan to acquire more land

Rameswaram: State revenue secretary B Chandramohan visited the site for late President A P J Abdul Kalam's memorial in Peikarumbu here on Wednesday.
With the first death anniversary of Kalam falling on July 27, preparations are under way at the site where he was laid to rest, for laying the foundation stone for the memorial, and a pedestal to install a seven-feet tall bronze statue of the late President.
Revenue department sources said Chandramohan was accompanied by Ramanathapuram collector S Natarajan and other officials. The visit comes in the wake of the statement made by Union minister Manohar Parikkar in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that the Tamil Nadu government is yet to provide adequate land for the memorial. The revenue secretary is expected to identify and acquire more land for the memorial.
Though the land around the site is predominantly barren, there is a cyclone shelter and a community hall being constructed adjacent to it. If this land is taken over, the shelter would be established in another site, sources said.
Officials also held talks with about seven people who owned the land bordering the memorial site. It is said that the land sells for 40,000 per cent as per government guideline rates, and the land owners had agreed to sell them for 1 lakh per cent.