Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan's second visit to Munnar on Tuesday as part of the eviction process of the encroached land will more be on focus for the protection of the land already reclaimed there.
His visit will be on the same areas where the minister himself had unveiled the boards erected there which were in some cases destroyed, damaged or defaced, a top official of the revenue department said.
The minister had while erecting the boards of the revenue property last year said that criminal cases will be initiated against the encroachers of the revenue land. It was alleged that there were encroachments as it was difficult for the revenue staff to continuously monitor the areas due to remoteness and lack of enough staff.
The official said that the protection of the reclaimed land requires continuous monitoring as the encroachers often lure the local people and the large scale encroachments were done using them as a shade.
After the United Democratic Front government came to power, nearly 1,800 acres of land was reclaimed in Devikulam and Udumbanchola taluks. The lack of strong follow up action had indirectly helped the encroachers as it is alleged that in some areas the boards were found disappeared and the land mafia had ‘spread it as due to the wild elephants' attack. However, the revenue department has clear records of the reclaimed land and it is not possible for the encroachers to reoccupy the areas already reclaimed, said the official.
Concrete ‘jandas' were made to protect the reclaimed land and nearly 500 of the ‘jandas' are being kept at the government school ground in Devikulam.
The minister will begin the process of bringing to the ‘jandas' to the already reclaimed land.
According to the official, the marking of the ‘jandas' will be the final process of protecting the land and it will ensure that there will be no encroachment on the reclaimed land.
Due to heavy weight of the ‘jandas' it is a Herculean task for the revenue department to bring them to the remote hilly areas especially in Parvathimala where there is no road connectivity. There are also further problems connected to enough manpower to load the ‘jandas' and erect them at the marked spots. The revenue department has also to bear a high cost for the entire work and it will also be difficult to complete the task in a time frame.
The minister who will reach on Monday night in Munnar is also scheduled to lay the foundation stone for a mini civil station at Devikulam in addition to the inauguration of a residential quarter for the revenue staff there.