Huge encroachment on Edappally-Vyttila highway

KOCHI: An RTI filed by the Kerala Environment Protection Forum has come across a few alarming details about the state of encroachment on the Edappally-Vyttila stretch of the NH-47 bypass. Not only are the number of encroachment high but the process against the encroachment too seems to be ineffective.A total of 110 encroachment have been identified by the National Highways Authority of India, as of July 26, 2011. But in spite of serving notices to all of them, the NHAI has been able to clear only 29 of these. “Removal of balance encroachment is under way,” the NHAI says.C T Abraham, Project Director of NHAI in Kochi, says the identification of encroachment in itself may be a difficult task, considering that there are no clear documents stating the areas under the NHAI and which are not. “In the case of public acquisition for roads, it is very difficult to get the government papers. Apart from the roads, the NHAI and the PWD has a lot of property like dumping yard. But there are no records to detect these. This in turn helps the people who are involved in the encroachment,” he says.In the RTI, the NHAI states that though the stretch of Edappally-Vyttila on the NH-47 has been transferred to NHAI by the state PWD, the document related to the land acquired has not been handed over to NHAI. After receiving the details from the state PWD, further action on the removal of encroachment can be taken.”The PWD officials counter the view that there is difficulty in transferring the documents. “The documents can be transferred if the NHAI is willing to take over,” says Superintending Officer, NH Central Circle, Vyttila, Kochi.