Meeting a long-standing demand of families displaced for the rail and road connectivity project linked to the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT), the Cochin Port Authority (CoPA) has agreed to release, free of cost, 52,958.70 cubic metres of dredged sand currently stocked at Puthuvypeen for fortifying three rehabilitation sites identified for the evictees.

In a letter issued to the Executive Engineer, PWD, the CoPA has sought details of the agency/contractor concerned and the work order, registration numbers of the vehicles to be engaged for transportation, and those of the authorised representative in charge of the sand stack yard and available during transportation. Production of a transit pass from the Geologist has also been sought before the commencement of transportation.

“We have been demanding this for long. The sand will be used for fortifying the rehabilitation sites at Mulavukad for 14 families, Adarsh Nagar and Indira Nagar for 56 and 118 families respectively in Thuthiyoor near Kakkanad. We have also submitted a memorandum to the Minister in charge of Ernakulam, Rojy M. John, detailing our demands, including a job for one person from each displaced family as promised,” said Francis Kalathungal, general convenor of the Moolamppilly Coordination Committee.

As many as 316 families were evicted from seven villages for the project in 2008, including the forcible eviction of ten families from Moolamppilly. A government order issued by the then Principal Secretary, Revenue, on March 19, 2008, in connection with the rehabilitation package, had promised employment to one person from each evicted family based on educational qualifications. However, the CoPA has remained non-committal on the demand for jobs.

Mr. John said a delegation representing the evictees had recently met him and submitted a memorandum. “The State government will convene a meeting of stakeholders to resolve their issues. Before that, we will have to study the matter,” he said.

Meanwhile, the PWD has written to the district administration requesting to deposit ₹2.68 crore, the collective estimate for transporting sand and fortifying the three rehabilitation sites, as a prelude to submit the estimate for technical sanction. The district administration has accorded administrative sanction for the construction of a protection wall for rehabilitation plots allotted to four families along the banks of a water body, for which the Executive Engineer of the Irrigation Division, Ernakulam, has submitted an estimate of ₹19.50 lakh.