KPCC president VM Sudheeran (left) had opposed several orders issued by the UDF government led by Oommen Chandy (right) at the fag end of its tenure. File photoThiruvananthapuram: The UDF government flouted rules brazenly while issuing many land assignment orders during its final few weeks, according the Cabinet subcommittee constituted by the LDF government in Kerala to look into the previous government’s controversial decisions, many of which were subsequently reversed.
The panel, headed by backward classes development minister A. K. Balan, found that illegal concessions and exemptions were being granted in the interest of the POABS group’s Karuna Estate in Nelliyampathy, Hope Plantation company in Idukki, township project at Chembu in Kottayam and the eco-tourism project at 'Methran Kayal backwater' paddy fields in Kumarakom.
As many as 47 out of the 127 land-related orders issued by the revenue department at the fag end of the UDF government’s tenure were in violation of norms, it said.
The sub-committee has sought explanation from the revenue secretary and the chief secretary regarding the controversial orders. Further action will be initiated based on their reports.
However, it is learnt that the sub-committee meeting demanded stern action against those who went out of the way to grant clearance to the above-mentioned projects.
Methran Kayal issue
The Methran Kayal wetlands was in the news after the Oommen Chandy-led government issued an order in the first week of March for reclamation of 378 acres of the 'Methran Kayal backwaters' wetland at Kumarakom village in Kottayam district and 47 acres of paddy fields at Kadamakuddy in Kochi for an eco-tourism project. The promoters had submitted the same proposal during the tenure of the LDF government which competed its term in 2011, but the cabinet denied permission to the project following a scrutiny.
It was among hundreds of files and agenda items cleared by the UDF government just before the election commission announced the Assembly election schedule and enforcement of the code of conduct. When the move kicked up a row, the Cabinet decided to withdraw the sanction given to the Kumarakom Eco-tourism Village. A group of farmers in the area also moved the High Court and secured a favourable verdict against the reclamation of the paddy land.
Karuna Estate controversy
The Cabinet decided to amend the revenue department’s order dated March 1 permitting acceptance of land tax for 833 acres of land currently under the possession of the Poab’s Group’s Karuna estate at Nelliampathy, after the move snowballed into a controversy. A report prepared by the land board secretary in 2014 had stated that the 876 acres of land in possession of Karuna estate was revenue land belonging to the government. The government move had also come under severe criticism from KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran.
Hope Plantation row
The order assigning 750 acres of excess land to the Hope Plantation company in Idukki district shortly before the announcement of Assembly elections was also repealed after it ignited a row. The AK Antony government in 2004 and the Achuthanandan government in 2010 had issued orders to take over the land and the matter was pending in the high court.
The Southern Indian Tea Estate company had been given 1,303 acres of land on lease in 1950 by the then Travancore king. In 1965, the Kolkata-based Poddar Group took over the land and rechristened it as Hope Plantation before starting cultivation of cardamom. In 1976, the government had decided to recover the land following violation of the lease deed, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in 1998.
