The Revenue Department has submitted the Alappuzha District Collector’s report on the alleged violation of the Land Utilisation Act and other offences committed by the Lake Palace Resort owned by Transport Minister Thomas Chandy and his family members to the Chief Minister seeking stern action against the guilty.
Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan submitted the report and his department’s recommendations at a meeting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Tuesday.
The department has come to the conclusion that there were serious violations of the Land Utilisation Act and encroachment on government land besides breach of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008 by the resort owners and complicity by officials, including the former Alappuzha District Collector, in the matter.
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Satellite imagery
In her report, prepared using satellite imagery and other scientific methods, District Collector T.P. Anupama had pointed out that there were violation of the laws in the construction of a road leading to the resort and a parking lot, reclamation of the Marthandam backwater, and laying of buoys in the backwater.
The department has virtually pointed to the responsibility of the Transport Minister in the matter by citing Section 24 of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, which says that ‘where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence was committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any Director, Manager, Secretary or other officer of the company, such Director, Manager, Secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly’.
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In a related development, the Alappuzha Collector issued notice to Mr. Chandy under provisions of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act seeking his explanation for the violations committed by the company.
Revenue Department sources told The Hindu that the government could proceed in the matter only after plugging all possible loopholes, but they also seemed to suggest that ultimately it would be a political decision that would clinch the issue.