Survey of TDB land at Sabarimala on

TDB had moved the High Court as Forest department raised objection to various projects

A team comprising officials of the Departments of Forests and Survey and the Travancore Devaswom Board has started surveying the forestland at Sabarimala, Pampa, and Nilackal as per a directive of the Kerala High Court.

The Advocate Commission appointed by the court, A.S.P. Kurup, told

The Hindu that the joint survey team had started the process from the Hilltop at Pampa that had been identified as the lower terminal point for the proposed cargo ropeway for transporting goods between Pampa and Sannidhanam.

Also under way

The survey of the forestland allotted to the TDB near Malikappuram that had been identified as the upper terminal point of the ropeway project was also under way.

Mr. Kurup said that it would take a few days to actually demarcate the land allotted to the TDB at Sabarimala and Pampa.

Requirement

TDB Chief Engineer V. Sankaran Potti said the lower and upper terminal points would require nearly 70 cents of land each.

TDB president A. Padmakumar said the board had a total of 495.53 acres of land at Sabarimala, Pampa, and Nilackal, with 77.2 acres at Sabarimala alone.

This included the 13 acres under its possession right from the period of the erstwhile Travancore dynasty, 50 acres given to it on lease on October 22, 1986, and 11.2 acres allotted through a government order on January 11, 1965, besides the land allotted for constructing a sewage treatment plant, he said.

Projects delayed

The board president said various major development projects planned at Sabarimala had been delayed due to objections raised by certain Forest Department quarters alleging encroachment on forestland by the TDB.

The TDB had moved the Kerala High Court against the Forest Department raising objections to various development projects at Sabarimala and the court, in turn, had issued an order on April 24, 2011, directing the authorities concerned to conduct a survey of the forestland at Sabarimala, Nilackal, and Pampa.

The court appointed Mr. Kurup the Advocate Commission a few months ago to coordinate and oversee the joint survey in a time-bound fashion.

Demarcating boundaries

Mr. Kurup said he would submit a detailed report to the court immediately after completion of the survey.

The survey would clearly demarcate the boundaries of the forestland allotted to the TDB thereby resolving various land disputes between the two major stakeholders at Sabarimala for ever.