In protest against the apathy of the authorities in reclaiming government land along the Mampuzha river that has been encroached upon, the Mampuzha Samrakshana Samiti will carry out a symbolic numbering of trees on the plot.
Samiti members said the novel protest was meant to serve as an eye-opener to the local panchayat and Revenue authorities. “Even after completion of survey in 90 per cent of the Revenue land along the river, the reclamation is pending due to the lethargic attitude of some officials,” they said.
“The blame game has been on for more than two years, with no clarity on who should initiate the reclamation procedure as per the survey results. When the local bodies argue that the responsibility lies with the Revenue wing, they say that local panchayats have the privilege to go ahead with the task independently,” said T.K.A. Azeez, president of the Samiti. He said the entire reclamation procedure of the surveyed land should have been completed by October 2.
Citing the silent stand-off between the local bodies and the Revenue department, the Samiti members recently submitted a petition to the District Collector and the district panchayat authorities seeking their immediate intervention. Samiti leaders said the local body heads of Peruvayal, Olavanna and Perumanna panchayats should arrive at a consensus and hold discussions with the Revenue Department for prompt action.
Additional District Magistrate T. Janil Kumar said the reclamation of encroached land was primarily the responsibility of the local panchayats concerned as per the amended Kerala Land Conservancy Act. “Revenue Department is bound to mark the encroached area after proper survey and hand over the details to the local bodies. Earlier, the Department had handled the reclamation too, but it was excluded from the amended Act,” he told The Hindu .
