Wayanad township project in legal tangle, Govt to meet sponsors after bypoll

Kalpetta: With the acquisition of land for the construction of the township to rehabilitate the landslide-hit families running into legal tangles, the state government will convene a meeting of all those who sponsored houses for the victims soon after the elections.

The total number of families eligible for new houses is yet to be finalised. Though the survey of the houses by various departments is over, the state government is yet to publish the draft of the total number of families who are eligible for new houses.

Going by the data collected by the Meppadi panchayat and the unpublished draft of the District Disaster Management Authority, on a rough estimate, the total number of families eligible for new houses would be less than 1000.

Revenue Minister K Rajan said that convening the meeting of sponsors was delayed due to the declaration of the election, after which the model code of conduct came into effect.

“We will convene the meeting soon after the elections,” he said, adding that there are offers for as many as 1043 houses. A special delegation of the Indian Union Muslim League also met the Chief Minister regarding the rehabilitation and demanded immediate steps to speed up the procedure.

However, the landslide-hit families are a worried lot as the acquisition of plantation land for rehabilitation is being delayed owing to an ongoing legal battle. Recently, the Kerala High Court, through an interim order, prevented the state government from acquiring the lands of Harrisons Malayalam Plantations Limited (HML) and Elston’s Estate in Wayanad for the construction of the township.

Considering the petition submitted by the plantation groups HML and Elston’s estate, the HC directed the state government to desist from executing its decision on land acquisition till the petition is disposed of.

The state government had initiated steps to take over land necessary for the rehabilitation from the Nedumpala division of HML at Arappatta (65.41 hectares) and Pulpara division (78.73 hectares) near the Kalpetta by-pass of the Elston Estate for the project.

However, Revenue K Rajan, who is in charge of the rehabilitation project, said that the government would resolve the issue as soon as possible. "For the time being, to tide over the crisis, the government would remit the entire price of the land earmarked for takeover at the court till the case is over,'' he said.