MLA using underhanded methods to evade demolition of check dams: greens

Activists stopped from submitting documents to Commission, they allege

Environmentalists who have been fighting against the unauthorised construction of check dams at P.V.R. Naturo resort at Kakkadampoyil have alleged that MLA P.V. Anvar was using underhanded methods to evade demolition of the check dams as ordered by the Kozhikode District Collector.

State secretary of All Kerala River protection Committee T.V. Rajan, who had approached the Kerala High Court against the construction, alleged that the MLA had sold the property, including the resort, to evade the order. The person who bought the land approached the High Court claiming that he may lose the path to his property if the check dams are demolished and has obtained an interim injunction order against the demolition, he said.

Meanwhile, the other complainants in the case alleged that they were stopped from submitting documents to the Commission appointed by the High Court to check the veracity of the allegations against the construction. While Mr. Rajan was allowed to meet the Commission on Monday, other environmentalists such as K.V. Biju, Shabari Mundakkal and K.T. Veeraj were stopped at the gate of the resort where the hearing was being held, they alleged.

It was Mr. Rajan who had approached the High Court first against the unauthorised check dams. The court, on December 22, 2020, had ordered the District Collector to take a decision. The Village Officer of Koodaranhi and the grama panchayat secretary had submitted reports that the check dams were unauthorised and had obstructed the natural flow of water in the stream near the resort. However, the District Collector did not take any action even after five months and Mr. Rajan brought it to the notice of the court once again.

The District Collector passed an order on August 30, 2021, to demolish the check dams within one month and directed the grama panchayat to take action in case the property owners failed to do so. However, the panchayat took no effort to demolish the dams even after months. So Mr. Rajan once again approached the High Court. Meanwhile, the resort and 36.5 acres attached to it were sold.

Mr. Rajan alleged that the MLA had used the same tactics to evade the demolition of a check dam at Cheenkannipala in Malappuram district.