The Idukki district administration will be lenient enough to consider rehabilitation of farmers who do not own land during the ongoing eviction drive, said collector Sheeba George.
The collector told Onmanorama on Friday that if the encroachments were on KSEB land or catchment areas of dams, where people have been evicted since the drive began on October 19, the officials leading the drive will have no choice.
“But, if we find out that the evicted people do not have any other land or abode, we would give consideration and try to rehabilitate them. For such persons, if the land they are holding is eligible for a title deed, we will consider handing over the land title to them,” the collector said.
George said the farms that were reclaimed have not been destroyed and the produce would be taken care of till the harvest. Afterward, the decision on evicting the farmland would be taken in line with the court order, she noted.
It is learnt from special task force officials in charge of the drive that there was a Kerala High Court order on 31.10.2023 that said during the eviction drive persons residing in houses should not be evicted. “Today, while conducting the drive at KDH village the collector inquired with us whether those to be evicted have another house or land. But, such details were not with us.
“In KDH, the land of an old government quarters had been encroached upon and a house was built four years ago. We have taken over this house by erecting the state government’s board after issuing a notice six months ago as directed by HC. The house here was built after demolishing the government quarters. But, those staying there have not been evicted,” said Devikulam L R Tahsildar, Thomas K A.
The eviction drive in the Devikulam Taluk on Friday was headed by Devikulam sub-collector Rahul Krishna Sharma. Assistant Commissioner (Cardamom) Priyan Alex Rebello was also part of the team.
Two other encroachments in the area without any houses and cultivation were also recaimed. The same team of officials issued six-month eviction notices as per court order to traders who built their shops on excess government land on Nallathanni Road in Munnar Village.
