Tribal people and their organisations have appealed to the State government to implement the recommendations of a high-power committee headed by the Chief Secretary on encroachment upon tribal land in Attappady by windmill companies.
Girijan Seva Samithy president U.C. Kunchan said here on Monday that the State government had not taken necessary measures to implement the recommendations.
The major recommendations of the committee were “to identify the guilty and bring them to book; restore and re-establish the rights of tribals over their land; resume government lands and put in place systems to avoid recurrence of such incidents.”
It called for “strong penal action under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1985 and Kerala Restriction on Transfer by and Restoration of Land to Scheduled Tribes Act, 1999 against the perpetrators of this scam.”
However, the government has not yet initiated any action against the multinational companies that were found to be illegally occupying tribal land at Nallasimha where the windmills were put up and sold to investors, he said.
The committee report said “Corporates have gone about implementing the windmill project by setting up multiple companies who then ‘purchased' lands. This itself gives the project an unclean image.”
“Instead, the company could have sought exemption under Section 81 (3) of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 with adequate justification to acquire land beyond the ceiling limit to set up the project, taking assistance under the government's policy to encourage generation of ‘green energy'.”
It said “Sarjan Realities alone has acquired 374.48 acres of land in Kottathara, Agli and Sholayur villages of Attappady. It has sold 31 plots of 1.20 acres each to investors. Windmills have been put up either before or after transfer of the plots. Sarjan Realities still retains 337.28 acres in Attappady. On an examination of the transactions of Sarjan Realities and its sister company Shubh Realities South (P) Ltd in Survey numbers 1275 and 1273 of Kottathara village, it is seen that none of their 27 purchase documents are executed with tribals.”
“However, on a site inspection, it is seen that tribals are in possession of land and that a layer of bogus transaction was created with non-tribals based on basic tax receipts and questionable possession certificates for the transaction with tribals,” they pointed out.
The report said “tribal rights in property transacted by developers is proved by the fact that the tribals have received around Rs.9.86 lakh for granting permission to put up windmills, electric posts and laying roads. The tribal people have paid Basic Tax from time to time, and tribal holdings keep cropping up in the boundary description in the documents of land transacted by Sarjan Realities. It thus transpires that tribal land was indeed alienated to non-tribals in this area. These tribal rights have to be restored in the area.”
Adivasi Mahasabha State secretary and district panchayat member Eswari Reshan said the high-power committee was categorical that corporate companies illegally annexed tribal land violating the statutory tribal protection laws. But the government was not taking any action against them.
Attappady Samrakshana Samithy convener M. Sukumaran said the government should take action against companies for violating tribal land and land ceiling Acts of the State.
He said the committee report clearly said “all documents for 374.48 acres purchased by Sarjan Realities were registered at the Sub Registry Office, Agali. This is several times the statutory land ceiling in the State.”.
