An expert committee report on the land acquisition programme of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) has questioned the SESAM allocation of disproportionately large land aquisition in Kannur, the home district of the former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The conclusions also cast the spotlight on vast blocks of underutilised land, and the repayment of loans with interest.
The report was released by the Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan on Thursday and he termed the situation as “biased distribution of investment. He had said that the allocation had not taken into account the potential returns from the purchase of land in big cities like Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.
The report said that the KIIFB has sanctioned a land acquisition scheme for 5,366 acres at a cost of ₹12,727 crore. Almost 4,900 acres were said to have been allocated to Kannur and this comes in a whiff of a lot compared to the district’s allotment.
It is mentioned that something like ₹2,489 crore has been spent on getting right of acquisition for about 1000 acres of land in the city of Kannur, while, only acquired land above 60 acres has been handed over for development till now.
In his questioning, Satheesan had pointed out that if they had bought land by the Vizhinjam port, it could have helped developing infrastructure related to the port. Even if they acquired 500 acres or just a bit more here, it would have been a big help in the growth of the port, he said.
The committee also raised doubts on the approval of this extensive acquisition programme without even having made a Detailed Project Report (DPR), without providing any working feasibility reports and without providing any reasons for investing in Kannur.
Satheesan also voiced his worry about the worth of the acquired land and AIDS that even if it’s given as collateral, it will still only be worth a fraction of what’s been paid. His statements implied that there are flaws in some land deals, but would take more investigations.
The findings may add to the spotlight on KIIFB’s land acquisition operations, including how to plan, allocate and value land in the region and raising funds to implement the project. The report does not conclude that any individual, or any institution, is guilty of any wrongdoing, nor does it say that any individual or institution is responsible in isolation for the reports contained within the report.