LookAtVietnam – The first phase of Ha Noi’s elevated railway early next year will lead to the destruction of 1,811 home units along the 15km route.

Traffic chaos at Cua Nam conjunction in Hoan Kiem District. It is hoped an elevated railway from Giap Bat to Gia Lam will improve the flow of traffic in the city.

Funds for site clearance total about VND3,180 billion (US$172 million).

The route, which runs for 15.36km from Giap Bat in the south to Gia Lam in the east, will involve the site clearance of 125ha of land in seven districts and 22 communes, according to the City Urban Railway Construction Project’s management unit.

Among them, Long Bien District will be the most affected. A total of 630 households with 3,200 people living on 40ha will have to move.

Dong Da District is next with 66 households involving 1,400 people; and Hoan Kiem District with 350 households and 1,300 people.

Nguyen Khanh Tung, who is in charge of site clearance, said the time frame for site clearance was from now until 2013.

Preparation of an official register of value, size and ownership of land, known as a cadastral map, will begin early next year.

“Although we haven’t implemented site-clearance activities, I think this will happen smoothly,” Tung said.

“This is because the new route is mainly based alongside the old railway route. The width will be expanded a few metres to meet technical needs. There will be no major cross cuts through residential areas.”

According to Tung, all proposals for compensation and resettlement follow guidelines from the municipal People’s Committee.

One solution is for affected people in inner Ha Noi to be resettled in residential buildings or receive a compensation lump sum based on the market rate of their property.

However, when seeking comments from the People’s Committee of Long Bien District, which has the largest amount of land affected, authorities said they had not yet received any official information from project officials.

Bach Van Dung, head of the People’s Committee of Kham Thien Commune in Dong Da District said: “It is the job of local authorities to arrange site clearance and resettlement with the people. But we haven’t received instructions from the District authorities who will assign the task to relevant communes.”

According to Dung, authorities at commune level have not received a complete list of households affected. The last time a sample survey was taken was two years ago when 10-15 random households were invited to a meeting to gather opinions.

Le Thi Hieu, at 10A Dien Bien Phu street, Hoan Kiem District who will have to move from the house next to the railway said: “The only information we have until now is through newspapers. However, we have been informed about the site clearance for more than 10 years, so we have already given up the idea of improving our homes.”

Hieu said she and her family were willing to move at any time as requested by the authorities. However, like many residents, her living was largely related to the location of their homes.

“The current location helps me run my business selling breakfast very well. Moving to another place may not be a big deal to civil servants, but is a huge change for us. If we move into a residential building, we will have to find a new way to earn our living, which may not be easy,” Hieu said.

An engineering consultation contract for VND848 billion ($47 million) between Ha Noi City Urban Railway Construction Project and Viet Nam Railway Corporation was signed earlier last month.

The second and final stage of the whole project will begin in 2016 and is expected to be completed by 2020. It will extend the overhead rail by another 13km - from Ngoc Hoi to Giap Bat and from Gia Lam to Yen Vien.

Total cost for both stages will be about $1.7 billion. Funds have been provided through official development assistance (ODA) from the Japanese Government.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News