Council to scale up agitation

Residents of Kadakampally to shift stir venue to Secretariat or collectorate

The landowners at Kadakampally village, on an indefinite agitation near the village office at Anayara, seeking the intervention of the government in remitting land tax, plan to scale up their agitation by shifting their protest venue to the Secretariat or the district collectorate.

Sasidharan, a member of the Kadakampally Land Protection Council, told The Hindu that as part of intensifying the agitation the council was planning to shift the protest to a more prominent place in the city. “We will decide the venue probably by Monday. It will be either in front of the Secretariat or the district collectorate. A decision is yet to be taken,” he said.

Support sought

The council had decided to intensify the agitation by enlisting the support of political parties and activists, he said.

Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan had agreed to visit the protest venue at Anayara on Monday, council members said.

“We are also seeking the support of other leaders and the protest will continue till the government allows us to make payment. No government representative came to meet us. They have shown no interest in sorting out the issue. So, we have decided to intensify the struggle,” he said.

The council, along with local unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI-M] launched the agitation on April 28.

The resurvey of the disputed 44.5 acres of land, in the centre of a controversy after Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched an inquiry into attempt to grab the land allegedly by Salim Raj, former gunman of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, was almost complete. Of the 21 survey numbers, resurvey for 16 had been completed and the remaining would be over by next week, Gopan, in-charge of the survey team told The Hindu.

“We have completed resurvey of about 35 acres. The report will be submitted to the District Collector after completing the survey,” he added. The resurvey was conducted in the light of allegations that a certain influential persons entered into illegal transactions, including forging of rent rolls kept at the village office and deprived the legal title-holders of the land.