Korappuzha’s fight to continue

A view of the encroachment on the banks of the Korappuzha. Photo: K. Ragesh

Signs of encroachment have once again surfaced on the banks of the Korappuzha in defiance of the instructions from the Revenue Department banning unauthorised construction works along major waterbodies.

The land-filling works on the river frontage are currently moving at a slow pace evidently to evade public glare and to prevent any action from the Revenue officials.

Using goods lorries, the private developers are currently unloading soil, mined from distant locations, to make their river-frontage wider for commercial purposes.

Though some of the local environmental organisations had informed local bodies about the move, steps are yet to come from any quarters to expose the shady deals.

Campaign

The land-grabbing attempts flourish at a time when the local people and various environmental organisations are busy with a campaign to protect the river from pollution.

“The encroachment attempts are easily visible at Puzhakkattiri, where real-estate lobbies have large acres of land with river frontage. It is done mainly for the purpose of resale at a huge price,” said a resident from the area.

He also claimed that no one would be interrupting the work, as the owners were influential persons.

Timber poles

As part of the continuing filling works, labourers hired for the purpose have started fetching long timber poles to the area and fixing them in water to complete the filling process.

As evidence of this, one can spot coconut wood pieces along the river banks.

Some of the local people say the land owners will start planting trees on the filled area to claim that it is part of their agricultural land.

Part of property

After a few years, the land will slowly become a part of their property and they will get a huge sum in real estate deals. Eranhikkal, another location close to the river, too, had come across similar incidents in which the private parties attempted to set on fire large areas of mangrove forest to grab the land.

It slowly came to a stop after local people erected caution boards on the encroached areas and approached the Revenue Department for action.