Much to the relief of landowners in Idukki, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the government and the Idukki Collector to resume the resurvey process stopped in 2007.
The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Justice K.T. Sankaran ordered that the resurvey be started from the stage when it was stopped in 2007 and completed in one year. The court asked landowners and other stakeholders to cooperate with survey officials.
The Bench passed the directives while allowing a public interest writ petition filed by Idukki District Consumer Vigilance Forum and others.
The government stopped the resurvey works in 2007 due to lack of accurate records and allegations of malpractice and forged documents. According to the government, it could complete resurvey only in 39 villages.
According to the petitioners, the landowners in the district were facing difficulties due to the errors in survey records. The petitioners said mistakes in large numbers were committed by the Survey Department and the revenue records prepared on the basis of the survey did not provide the correct picture of landholdings in the district.
As a result, the landowners were finding it difficult to avail themselves of loans and other financial assistance.
