What land is being acquired and where
Land is being acquired for the expansion of the airport at Thoothukudi. All of the notified land lies in Thoothukudi taluk of Thoothukkudi district.
The notices cover 252 survey numbers in total, spread across 3 villages. The records available to us list no other villages for this project.
The acquisition is being made under the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act, 1997. This is a state law, and the notices have appeared in the state Gazette.
The notices and their stage
There are 8 notifications on record. The first was published on 15 July 2013 and the latest on 16 May 2023.
The other notices are dated 31 December 2013, 3 February 2014, 27 July 2015, 4 March 2016, 4 May 2017 and 20 March 2023. Each notice covers one village, except the notice of 20 March 2023, which covers two villages.
None of the 8 notices has been withdrawn, either fully or in part, and none has been corrected later by a further notice.
Under the 1997 Act, the main step is a notice published by the Government under section 3(1) stating that the land is required. Before that, the owner and other interested persons are ordinarily given an opportunity to show cause against the acquisition. Once the section 3(1) notice is published in the Gazette, the land vests in the Government free from encumbrances.
The records we hold show that notifications were published. They do not show whether compensation has been fixed or paid for any particular survey number, or whether possession has been taken. Those points must be confirmed with the District Collectorate at Thoothukudi.
Villages covered and survey number counts
Mudivaithanendal: 115 survey numbers notified, none withdrawn.
Kumaragiri: 93 survey numbers notified, none withdrawn.
Servaikaranmatam: 44 survey numbers notified, none withdrawn.
These three villages together account for all 252 survey numbers in the notices. To know whether a specific survey number or subdivision is included, read the schedule printed with the relevant Gazette notification, as the counts above do not tell you which subdivisions are affected.
What to do if your land is listed
First, match your survey number and subdivision exactly against the schedule in the Gazette notification for your village. A match on the main survey number alone is not enough, since a notice may cover only part of a survey number.
If your land is included, contact the Land Acquisition office at the Thoothukkudi District Collectorate. Ask for the stage of acquisition for your survey number, whether an award has been passed, and what documents you must file to claim compensation.
Keep your title papers in order: sale deeds, patta, chitta, adangal extracts and a recent encumbrance certificate. Compensation is paid to the person who can show title and interest in the land, so gaps in the chain of title can delay payment.
If you are a buyer, do not purchase any land in these three villages without first checking the Gazette schedules. Since land notified under section 3(1) vests in the Government on publication, a sale of such land after notification will not give the buyer good title. Ask the seller for a written statement on acquisition and verify it independently with the Collectorate.