The Attappady Vikasana Samithy has asked the State government to take over the windmill units set up on tribal land in Nallasingha in Kottathara village of Attappady.
In a statement here on Saturday, Samithy president M. Sukumaran said the government had not taken any action to evict the encroachments even in areas where it had been proved that tribal land had been encroached upon to set up windmills. Instead, it has ordered another resurvey of land in the entire Attappady belt. This will only delay the eviction process.
He said an inquiry conducted by the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), District Collector and the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) officer in Attappady had found large-scale transaction of tribal land in violation of the law.
In Survey No.1275 in Sholayur Village, 150 acres that was with the tribespeople for the last 40 years had either been bought or encroached upon allegedly by companies that have put up windmills. The report said 12 windmills had been set up by a multinational company on this land.
According to the report of the ITDP officer, part of this land belonged to 36 tribes who were paying land tax. They were in possession of the survey sketches and other documents. The report also mentioned the names and extent of land with the tribals in this area. It said the companies bought the land from the tribespeople for a paltry amount and put up windmills. The power generated was sold by the multinational firms to leading companies in the State, he said.
District Collector K.V. Mohan Kumar said the special office that has been opened in Attappady for resurvey will start issuing formats for survey request from December 14. It will receive complaints from tribespeople about the land that had been alienated from them, he said.
The Collector said he would hold a sitting on the matter at the office of Attappady Hill Area Development Society (AHADS) and receive complaints from tribespeople.
