Disputes over ownership of land to be resolved

Pattaya Mela will cater for more than 5,000 applicants, says Minister

Excise Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan meets Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan at the Collectorate in the city on Monday. District Collector U.V. Jose is seen.

Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan on Monday said the department would hold a Pattaya Mela in December to issue title deeds to nearly 5,000 landholders in the district.

Instructing officials to speed up measures ahead of the mela at a district-level meeting here, the Minister said the government was not in favour of expelling people from their lawful property. “All eligible landholders will be able to secure documents at the mela,” he added.

On the dispute over ownership of land in some villages between farmers and the Forest Department, the Minister said the issue would be settled amicably after joint inspections. He also examined complaints raised by people’s representatives on land disputes in the district.

Labour Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan, who was present at the meeting, rubbished reports that settlers in hillsides were being evacuated. He also urged the Revenue authorities to appoint more survey officers to effect the speedy distribution of title deeds to those who had constructed houses under the Indira Awaas Yojana.

Addressing the meeting, C.K. Nanu, MLA, said the acquisition of additional plots of land was necessary to address space constraints at the Vadakara mini civil station. He also appealed to the Revenue Minister to identify suitable space for the construction of village office buildings at Eramala and Chorod. K. Dasan, MLA, said hundreds of families settled in the Kottakkadavu region were yet to get their title deeds cleared by the Revenue Department. He said complaints from residents should be redressed during the mela. Intervening in the discussion, Karat Razak, MLA, said the Revenue Department’s reluctance to accept land tax from farmers in Kattippara panchayat was troubling several families. He alleged that the settlement of the issue was long pending owing to negligence of Revenue officials.

Demands to identify revenue land encroachments and illegal constructions too were placed before Mr. Chandrasekharan. P.T.A. Rahim, MLA, said those who had encroached upon government land to set up commercial ventures should be identified and punished. A. Pradeepkumar and George M. Thomas, MLAs were present.