Low land value irks residents

CHENNAI: Alandur residents are crying foul as they feel that they were cheated during land acquisition by Chennai Metro Rail. They alleged that the government has paid them way below the guideline value of the property after they were promised the market value of the land, even as officials vowed to look into the issue.Dr Barathi Kumar, President of Alandur Residents’ Welfare Association, told City Express that Metro Rail officials had promised to provide the market value of `3,745 per square foot to the 29 house owners whose properties were to be acquired for the project. “We had a series of negotiations and the price was fixed on January 27.However, far from keeping up the promise, they are now paying us `900 per square foot, which is way below the guideline value of the property fixed at `1,100. We feel cheated by the government as they had promised us `3,745 per square foot,” said Dr Barathi.Megavarnam, joint secretary of the association, said that it was only when the government promised us to pay `3,745 per square foot that the residents agreed to sign on the dotted line. “We look to the AIADMK government for justice by giving us the market price for our property,” he said.When City Express contacted highly placed officials in Metro Rail, they said that they only had the powers to send in the proposal to the district administration.“The District Collector fixes the price. We don’t have any control over them. If the residents feel they have been cheated then they should approach the court. We don’t have any issue over paying the market price for the value of the land,” he said.When the Kanchipuram collector S Sivashanmuga Raja was contacted, he said he would look into the matter.“Everything is in black and white. There is a laid down procedure through which the land value can be fixed and my predecessor would have acted upon it,” he said. When pointed about the residents claim that they were paid below the guideline value instead of the market value, he said that he would look into the matter.Meanwhile, DRO Uma Maheshwari, who is overlooking the land acquisition for Metro Rail, refused to answer any query stating that she was not authorised to speak to the Press.