Four times the market value of land is the carrot Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan government is dangling before the families that would be affected by the semi high speed rail corridor, the 532-km SilverLine project.

One thing has to be made clear at the outset. The High Court has made it emphatically clear that the land acquisition for the project will be governed by the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LAARR) Act, 2013. Therefore, if acquisition happens, it will be under the land acquisition rules that were evolved from the LAARR Act.

How is compensation calculated
The Kerala Revenue Department, in an order issued on December 3, 2015, had laid down the scheme of compensation. One, the compensation for land being acquired in urban centres is equal to the value of the land arrived at based on the average of the documents registered in the nearest sub-registry office for the past three years.

Two, the compensation for land being acquired in rural areas situated up to 10km from the boundary of any urban centre (Municipal corporation/ municipality) will be 1.2 times the value of the land arrived at based on the average of the documents registered in the nearest sub-registry office for the past three years.

Three, the compensation for land being acquired in rural areas situated between 10km and up to 20 km from the boundary of any urban centre (Municipal corporation/ municipality) will be 1.4 times the value of the land arrived at based on the average of the documents registered in the nearest sub-registry office for the past three years.

Four, the compensation for land being acquired in rural area situated between 20km and 30km from the boundary of any urban centre (Municipal corporation/ municipality) will be 1.6 times the value of the land arrived at based on the average of the documents registered in the nearest sub-registry office for the past three years.

Five, the compensation for land being acquired in rural areas situated between 30km and 40km from the boundary of any urban centre (Municipal corporation/ municipality) will be 1.8 times the value of the land arrived at based on the average of the documents registered in the nearest sub-registry office for the last three years.

Six, the compensation for land being acquired in rural areas situated more than 40km away from the boundary of any urban centre ( Municipal corporation/ municipality ) will be 2 times the value of the land arrived at based on the average of the documents registered in the nearest sub-registry office for the last three years.

In addition to the above there will be an equal amount of solatium for all the above. Together (value of land plus solatium), the total compensation will range from double to four times the average value of land in the past three years.

It will be double in urban areas, 2.4, times in areas up to 10km away from urban centres, 2.8 times in areas up to 20km away from urban centres, 3.20 times in areas up to 30km away from urban centres, 3.60 times in areas up to 40km away from urban centres and 4 times more in areas 40km away from urban centres.

Why four times the market value is an illusion
Except in Idukki, Palakkad and Wayanad districts, there will not be any village which is more than 40km away from any Corporation/ Municipality in the whole of Kerala. As the SilverLine does not pass through the above districts, the chances of an affected family getting compensation of up to four times the value of the land would be near impossible.

There is yet another detail. The process of arriving at the distance from an urban centre is aerial distance from the urban centre boundary. This will mean that almost all village centres will fall within the urban area limits. Therefore, the offer of four times compensation for land acquisition is a false promise and not based on any prevailing law of the country.

Why market value is a misleading term
It may be recalled that the estimate for land acquisition and rehabilitation for the SilverLine project in the DPR is Rs 13,265 crore. But as per Niti Aayog report it is estimated as Rs 28,157 crore. The explanation given by Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (K-Rail/KRDCL) for the huge difference in the land acquisition estimate is that the land identified to be acquired is cheap. This exposes beyond any doubt that the evictees will be getting only a meagre value as compensation for their land.

The common people presume that the market value is the value prevalent in the locality. This is absolutely wrong. As per section 26 of the LAAR Act, the market value is the “average price determined taking into account the sale deeds or the agreement to sell registered, for similar types of area in the near village or near vicinity area during immediately preceding three years of the year in which such acquisition of land is proposed to be made.”

The land value based on the above section will usually be around one fourth to one fifth of the real market value. It may be recalled that in the case of land acquisition of Kochi Metro, the company paid up to Rs 52 lakh per cent as compensation on MG Road, and on approaching the HC, it was revised to Rs 1 crore per cent. This clearly shows how the evictees are being cheated for such projects in the land acquisition issues.

Moreover former minister G Sudhakran had admonished the KRDCL MD for spreading false information about compensation. He had said that the government intended to pay only 2.4 times the value and, in exceptional cases, up to 4 times.

Why buffer zone should be feared
Another important issue is regarding the buffer zone. In all railway projects, there will be a freezing of 30 metres on either side of the track. The DPR also reveals the same for SilverLine. But it is surprising that the KRDCL MD has stated that the buffer zone in the case of SilverLine will be only 5 meters of no construction zone and additional 5 meters on either side where construction will be allowed on a case to case basis.

Fact is, the KRDCL cannot restrict the buffer zone of any railway track according to their whims and fancies. It is the Railway Safety Commissioner who is the competent authority to stipulate the buffer zone of any railway track on a case to case basis.

In the case of SilverLine, the proposed speed is 200 kmph, which is around four times the normal speed of the trains operating in Kerala. Hence the safety commissioner will never restrict the buffer zone in the case of SilverLine to 5 metres and 10 metres.

It is also a fact that, for railway projects, compensation is not given for the land in the buffer zone. Hence, families holding lands in the buffer zone will not get any compensation. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself had said this.

The total land required for the project is estimated to be 3,500 acres. Another 3,500 acres of land will be frozen as a buffer zone, taking the total land usurped for the project to 7,000 acres.

Tenders have already been floated for the development of 2,500 acres of land for commercial complexes and for smart cities around the proposed 10 stations. When we take into consideration all the above, the total land utilisation will be a humongous 9,500 acres.

Can a state like Kerala with a total area of 33,864 sq km, compared to three lakh sq km of neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, afford to sacrifice such a massive swathe of land for such an outdated project.

(The writer is the patron of the Kerala State Action Committee against the Semi High Speed Train Project and the president of Mulakulam Residents' Welfare Association, a group that will be affected by the SilverLine project)