Responding to the general sense in the Assembly on Friday that the Wayanad rehabilitation process should not be delayed, revenue minister K Rajan said that there indeed were problems with land acquisition but assured the House that swift measures were being adopted to take over the land necessary for the creation of the proposed post-disaster township.
"There could be issues when land is sought to be acquired in Wayanad," the minister said on Friday, the first day of the 12th Assembly session dedicated to pay homage to the victims of the July 30 landslide disaster in Wayanad's Mundakkai and Chooralmala and Vilangad in Kozhikode.
"The land here is unique. There are plantations that have secured exemption from the Land reforms Act under Section 81(3) of the Act. Then there are lands caught up in court cases that resulted from the implementation of the Land Resumption Act. Most of the lands in the area come under these two categories," the minister said.
He said the government decision was to find lands closest to the disaster area and then acquire it using the extraordinary provisions of the Disaster Management Act 2005. Two swathes of land have been identified for the proposed township: 65.47 hectares of Nedumpala estate at Kottappady Village and 78.37 hectares of Elston Estate in Kalpetta Village.
The Disaster Management Act would be invoked to quicken the take over of land, to avoid the land disputes that could crop up under a normal acquisition process.
Earlier, opposition leader V D Satheesan told the House that the pace of the rehabilitation efforts in Wayanad should not slacken. "It should be done quickly. We should not invite criticism. Governments have always been accused of slowing down after an initial burst of activity. Such a situation should not happen. Our rehabilitation should be a model for the country," Satheesan said. Muslim League leader P K Kunhalikutty, too, warned the government against what he called "inordinate delay".
The revenue minister assured that there would not be delays and said that another suggestion put forward by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was that houses in the township should at least be 1000 sq ft. "Also, the houses should be constructed in such a way, with solid foundation, that the families, if they want to, can erect a first floor in future," minister Rajan said. He said the proposed township would have all modern amenities like any modern township.
Further, the revenue minister said that two kinds of people would be rehabilitated. In the first phase, the directly affected would be rehabilitated. These are the people who had lost their land, property and agriculture lands in the disaster.
The second category are those living in areas that have now been designated as 'not to go zones' by the expert committee led by scientist John Mathai of the National Centre for Earth Science studies. They will be shifted from their areas in the second phase of the rehab process. "There wouldn't be even a crack in these houses but even then they will be shifted," the revenue minister said.
A preliminary list of both these categories will be drawn up and submitted for public scrutiny. The final list will be published only after securing public approval.
The minister also said that a meeting of voluntary organisations that had expressed willingness to be part of the rehabilitation process would be convened very soon, preferably this month itself.
It was Muslim League leader P K Kunhalikutty who brought the concerns of voluntary organisations to the notice of the House. "There are many voluntary organisations that are keen to be part of the rehabilitation process. Our own organisation itself has sourced Rs 40 crore for the purpose. These organisations should be given the space to contribute. They can be of great assistance to the government," Kunhalikutty said.
He said these organisations were even willing to construct houses in the proposed township. "If they function independently, they could lose out on a lot of general benefits available under the government mechanism," he said.
