The Kallayi River Protection Committee, which has been in the forefront of various agitations against land encroachments, has alleged attempts by timber merchants to win legal possession of land on the banks of the Kallayi river which they had encroached upon.
Leaders of the committee said some influential merchants were trying to cover up the encroachments and win possession certificate for validating the property. “We have no objection in leasing out revenue land for the promotion of timber industry. But moves to secure possession certificate for encroached property will not be tolerated,” they said.
Faisal Pallikkandy, leader of the committee, said the committee members would meet District Collector N. Prasanth on Thursday to apprise him of the situation. The committee members alleged that several acres of revenue land on the banks of the river was under the illegal possession of the merchants, who were expanding the property through illegal reclamation. Though the government had previously allotted nearly 70 acres of land on lease to the timber merchants in the area, they did not renew the lease agreements, which expired in 2002, following a dispute over the lease amount. Though the lease was not renewed, most of them were enjoying free possession of the land.
‘False propaganda’
Meanwhile, the district committee of the All Kerala Saw Mill and Wood Industries Owners Association led by Joseph Mathew said that the environmentalists were spearheading a false propaganda against timber merchants, portraying them as land encroachers and real estate agents. “The timber merchants in the city were facing many difficulties in the absence of valid possession certificates. Now the issue has been noticed by the government for favourable action,” they said in a statement here on Wednesday.