Representative imageThiruvananthapuram: In a bid to further dilute the law for protecting the paddy land and wetlands, the state revenue department has issued an order extending the deadline by three months to apply for getting legal validity for reclamation of paddy fields which were filled before 2008.
The order issued amid widespread misuse of amendment to the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008 that allowed legalisation of paddy land reclaimed before 2008 by remitting 25% of the fair value of the land raises eyebrows.
The revenue department maintained that the order to extend till May the deadline to apply for regularising the paddy fields which were reclaimed illegally was in public interest. The order was issued by Dr. Vishwas Mehtha, additional chief secretary, revenue department on March 3 - a day before the model code of conduct for elections came into force.
As many as one lakh applications have already piled up in collectorates. Of them 25,000 are from Ernakulam district. Complaints are rife that the amendment effected by the government will be capitalised by land mafia and realtors and not the common people.
Even the move to regularise the paddy fields reclaimed before 2008 by an amendment to the Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, introduced as part of the Kerala finance bill had invited criticism. Since no data bank has been published in connection with paddy fields in the state there are no basic documents to find out on which date the paddy lands were filled.
There is no measure to curb the practice of buying pieces of land in the name of various people and then combining them as a single plot. There are also no rules to categorise people who have bought tiny plots and filled them for personal use. Collectorates have even received applications for reclamation of paddy fields which have never been filled before.
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