THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/IDUKKI: The state government, on Wednesday, decided to end the tenure of the
Munnar special tribunal that was set up in February 2011 to adjudicate land encroachment cases in Devikulam and
Udumbanchola. A detailed order will be released on handing over the pending cases.
It was set up to solve land issues in the eight villages of KDH, Chinnakanal, Santhanpara, Vellathooval, Anavilasam, Pallivasal, Anaviratty and Bison Valley. It had considered over 1,200 cases of land encroachments in Munnar and adjacent areas. As per the report of the registrar of the high court, the tribunal has settled only 42 cases. Assembly subject committee had asked the government to end its tenure as it did not yield the desired result.
For the past several months, the tribunal was facing serious staff shortage that affected its functioning. In addition, CPM's feeder organization Karshaka Sangam and people's movement High Range Samrakshana Samiti (HRSS) had been openly protesting against the tribunal for the past several months.
"There is no need for the tribunal and we welcome the government decision. When the tribunal was formed, residents in Idukki were facing various land issues. But the tribunal was formed without proper verification," said HRSS general convener Fr Sebastian Kochupurackal, adding that the government should prevent encroachment at Munnar and protect its biodiversity.
However, with government winding up the tribunal, revenue sources pointed out that there is no way to prevent encroachment.
In May 2017, the district administration had submitted a list of over 154 cases of land encroachment. Most of them were in Pallivasal, Chinnakanal, Bison Valley, Anaviratty, Santhanpara, Mankulam, Marayoor, Keezhanthoor and KDH areas. But the government didn't evict or act against a single encroacher in the list, said revenue sources, adding that the winding up of the tribunal will protect the interests of encroachers.
Other decisions
The state cabinet also approved the phase-II extension of Kochi Metro from Nehru stadium to Infopark. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 2,310 crore.
At the same time, government did not finalize any package for the flood-affected areas as district collectors are yet to submit their reports. "All officials concerned are camping in affected areas. Once they submit a detailed report, state cabinet will take a final decision," said revenue minister E Chandrasekharan after the cabinet meeting. However, the cabinet sanctioned Rs 3 lakh each to local bodies for monsoon-related cleaning to curb the threat of epidemics.
Meanwhile, the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues will declare their assets on government website. The directive was issued by Pinarayi Vijayan to his cabinet colleagues.
The cabinet decided to create 92 new posts in engineering colleges at Barton Hill in
Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Idukki,
Palakkad, Wayanad, Kozhikode and Kannur. A new aided arts and science college has been sanctioned in Parassala. New posts have been sanctioned for this college, including principal and assistant professors.
