In a swift move, the government has given the nod to the District Collector, Kottayam, to acquire 2,263.18 acres of land of the Cheruvally estate in Erumely South and Manimala villages of Kottayam district for the proposed Sabarimala greenfield airport.
The District Collector has been asked to invoke provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation & Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, (LARR Act, 2013) and deposit the entire cost of compensation before the court having jurisdiction over the area as per Section 77 (2) of the Act since there is a dispute on the title of the property.
A. Jayathilak, Principal Secretary, Revenue, in his order on Thursday, made it clear that further action for the disbursement of compensation for the land to be acquired from Kanjirappaly taluk will be made based on the verdict of the court on the dispute of the land of the Cheruvally estate previously held by Harrison Malayalam Plantations Ltd.
Approvals
The District Collector has also been asked to ensure that the approval under the Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, Coastal Zone Regulation Act and Environment Act is obtained by the requisitioning authority (special officer) before proceeding with the land acquisition.
The move is in the wake of the request made by V. Thulasidas, special officer, Sabarimala airport, to the government to issue notification for acquiring the 2,263.18 acres of land in Kanjirappally taluk for setting up the greenfield airport. The Cheruvally estate was selected as the site for the airport by a three-member committee headed by the Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue).
The Cabinet had given the in-principle approval for the greenfield airport.
Believers Church
Meanwhile, the Believers Eastern Church, which currently holds the ownership rights over the property, will soon convene a meeting of the Bishop's Council to decide on whether the Church should initiate legal action against the notification or not, said Fr. Sijo Panthappallil, official spokesperson of the Church.
Though the Kottayam Collector has filed a suit at a civil court in a Pala court after a higher court had asked the State government to approach a civil court with solid evidence in case of any disputes regarding the title deed of the property, the proceedings are yet to begin, he added.
Property sold in 2005
The property was sold to the Gospel of Asia by Harrisons Malayalam Limited (HML) in 2005.
The deal, however, landed in trouble after Mr. Rajamanickam issued an order on May 28, 2015 attaching around 38,000 acres of land in the possession or transferred by the HML, including the Cheruvally estate.