Officials take to sky as stir on land hits corridor survey work

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was flown over lands in villages such as Erumapalayam, Udayapatty, Kuppanur and Achanguttapatty and images captured.

After manual surveying, drones were used to examine the lands where boundary stones were laid. The aerial survey was carried out under the supervision of a joint team comprising the land acquisition tahsildar, NHAI and Revenue officials.

“With aerial imaging, the number of coconut, palm and mango trees that would be affected will be estimated, besides crops and other properties, for compensation. Using the images, a blueprint for the project will be prepared and sent to the state and central governments for scrutiny,” said a Revenue Department official. Villagers, who were so far fighting against the survey work undertaken in their farmland, expressed displeasure over the speed with which the state government has been carrying out the acquisition process, now with the aid of technology.

In Salem district, the land survey work commenced on June 18 and was carried out quickly, ending on June 25. The proposed 277.3 km Chennai-Salem greenfield highway project at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crore passes through 36.3 km in Salem district.

About 248 hectares of land in 20 villages in the district will be acquired for the project.