All hopes of arriving at a consensus on the price of land to be acquired for the Kochi metro seem to have diminished with the district administration saying that the maximum it can provide to the owners is Rs 40 lakh a cent.
“The district purchase committee has raised the amount to Rs 40 lakh a cent and that’ll be final. Now they have the option to go to court or agree to the price,” said district collector Sheikh Pareeth after another round of negotiations with the Land Owners Association at the camp office on Monday.
Earlier, the association of around a 100 landowners had climbed down from its original demand of Rs 1 crore to Rs 75 lakh a cent while the committee too officially raised the price to Rs 40 lakh from Rs 32 lakh a cent.
“Ninety-nine per cent of the owners won’t agree to this price and want to go for the legal option.
However, the district collector has promised to consult the chief minister and get back to us,” said M.V.Varghese, convener of the association.
The land in question is located at Banerjee Road, South Railway Station Road the premises of Jos Junction.