If the history of eviction of encroachments in Munnar and its surrounding areas were to be listed, it would make a slim volume. For, the region has not seen any sustained attempt to rid the undulating terrain of land-grabbers. It is not that efforts have not been made to clear encroachments, but these have at best been in fits and starts.
The single major effort to take on the encroachers was carried out by the V.S. Achuthanandan government, which set the ‘black cats’ among the encroachers in what came to be known as the ‘Munnar Operation.’ The high-voltage operation did not achieve the goals it set for itself, but it brought home to everyone concerned about the fragile ecosystem that the greenery and the terrain of the high ranges of Kerala sustain, about the grave depredation that has been on there for decades now.
Media glare
The Munnar Operation failed to achieve its goals owing to a sharp divide within the CPI(M) and the ambivalent stand taken by the then Opposition led by the Congress. The kind of publicity that the operation received with live TV coverage also proved counter-productive and the many cases filed before courts over the actions taken by the Revenue Department were never pursued with the seriousness their deserved.
This time too, the evictions have been receiving disproportionate media glare. But the evictions now are marked by some significant differences. For one, officers have not gone after everyone at one go and not tried to taken on the encroachments by the local party units. This has ensured that the parties cannot play the victim and individual leaders who have come out in support of encroachers have been by and large seen for what they are. More importantly, CPI, the second biggest constituent in the ruling LDF, has fully endorsed the evictions and taken on none other than Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his party men to defend the actions of the officers.
Forged documents
An official of the Revenue Department who did not wish to be identified told The Hindu that the main issue in Munnar is use of forged documents to secure possession of land. Almost all unauthorised occupations in Munnar, Devikulam and Chinnakanal have ‘official’ documents to support them. Once a shed is constructed on an encroached piece of land, the document is forged with the connivance of Revenue officials, and the surrounding areas too are encroached. The shed will slowly make way for major constructions and multistorey buildings. The encroachers would secure power connection, house number and all other government benefits based on the forged document. “Now, the difference between the illegal construction on encroached land and legal construction on a patta land becomes thin and the land changes many hands over time and thus becomes legal,” he said.
The eviction of the piece of land encroached by a retired government employee the other day has resulted in the Revenue Department slapping a case on the person in question. Had the Revenue officials not done this, the 10 cents of land in question would soon have ballooned to a few hundred acres. “This is precisely what happened in the case of the Church group that has been found to have encroached upon government land at Pappathichola. Of the estimated 2,000 acres of land in survey number 34/1, the Revenue Department has evicted encroachment in 30 acres. If this were not done, the whole of the hillock would soon have gone into their possession,” the Revenue official said.
