Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam treasurer M.K. Stalin has promised to provide title deeds (patta) to those who live on lands to be acquired for public purposes, referred to in government parlance as Section 17 lands, if the party were to return to power.
He is on the second leg of his ‘Namakku Name’ tour meeting members of the public all across the State.
Addressing the public in Gudalur and Pandalur, he said that during the last DMK regime, the government took steps to provide title deeds. The government had conducted several meetings and also obtained a favourable court order. But the present AIADMK government had pushed the topic to the back burner, causing apprehension among those who lived on such lands.
If the government were to issue the title deeds, 16,000 families living on 35,000 acres of Section 17 lands would stand to gain, he pointed out.
In the past four years of AIADMK rule, the tourist towns in the district had suffered for want of infrastructure development. The State Government had promised two-and-half years ago to start the Chillahalla hydro-electric power project at Rs. 7,000 crore but had not done so, Mr. Stalin said to underscore his argument.
The district suffered from frequent power cuts, sewage flowed into the Ooty lake, the traders and residents were in fear of their buildings being demolished and farmers were not getting good minimum support price for tea, he said.
Likewise, Government did not take steps to implement the third drinking water plan for Udhagamandalam Municipality, he added.
Earlier, he received a traditional welcome from a tribal hamlet in Mudumalai. Members of the Irula tribe garlanded him with gooseberry.
