A major area of illegal constructions and developmental activities by the resort mafia in the district includes the Cardamom Hill Reserve (CHR) of Udumbanchola and Devikulam taluks.
This, flouting the rules, have largely affected the degeneration of the cardamom forest, where dual ownership is in prevalence. Though the land is under the control of the Revenue Department, the Forest Department has the sole right over the trees. As per the estimate of the Revenue Department, there are over a hundred illegal constructions in the cardamom reserve area of the two taluks.
The CHR, created by a proclamation by the ruler of erstwhile Travancore in 1922 to promote cardamom cultivation and provide facilities to farmers, consisted of 87,000 hectares of land in the Western Ghats. Of the total area, about 10,000 ha are on lease to plantation owners; 8,000 ha under old cardamom title deeds and land assignment (LA) title deeds; about 1,300 ha in the Mathikettan National Park and the remaining area has been encroached upon. Encroachments on 20,000 ha were regularised in the wake of the United Democratic Front (UDF) government’s decision to condone pre-1977 encroachments.
Rendered illegal
The leases held by planters on 10,000 ha were granted under the Cardamom Lease Rules framed under Section 7 of the Kerala Land Assignment Act, 1960, but were rendered illegal by the Kerala Forest Act, 1961, and the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The cardamom title deeds and land assignment title deeds were given for the sole purpose of growing cardamom.
The dual ownership is said to be the main reason for the large-scale illegal constructions and conversion of land for other purposes by the farmers. Though the permission for controlling the shades of trees rested with the Forest Department, unlike in wildlife sanctuaries, there is no monitoring over the CHR lands. This resulted in large-scale loss of trees and conversion of land for other purposes.
Though the cardamom rules specifically laid norms for constructions, multi-storeyed buildings came up and roads constructed. An official of the Forest Department said the dual ownership resulted in poor monitoring of the CHR and controversies between the two departments over granting permission to farmers for shade control or construction works. Had the land been completely assigned with the Forest Department, the eco-degeneration and the mushrooming of illegal constructions could have been brought under control, he said. According to a report of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) appointed by the Supreme Court in September 7, 2005, the status of the CHR is forest, and the extent of the area is about 334 sq miles.
The CEC concluded that the CHR comprised dense forests and illegal assignment of land, grant of title deeds, illegal sale of land, and encroachments resulted in deforestation. This was in gross violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and the apex court order in December 12, 1996. Despite the apex court order, no action was initiated against illegal constructions in the CHR by the successive governments. This resulted in land conversion and illegal contributions in the CHR.
