The picturesque landscape with misty valleys, spectacular long view of gulches, undulating green deserts of tea estates, thrilling canyons and many things more makes Munnar, one among the dream place for any traveler around the glob. At the end of the last summer season Munnar was in chaos. The earth movers were moving here and there, battalions of police forces were deployed, the edifices in the heart of the town and around were being demolished, processions and street meeting every where, virtually the cool tourist spot of the state was boiling.
All these started when the Sate Govt. decided to take rigorous measures against the encroachments in and around Munnar. The tourism pressure at Munnar and there emerged requirements of the infrastructure, the tourism centered policy of development along with the unavailability of the land for infrastructure developments resulted in large number of encroachments in vacant lands. It happened in forest land, revenue land, National Highway or any other sort. For the last two decades the news of encroachments supported with or with out forged and fake land ownership documents were coming from the high ranges, but they were disregarded as the unfounded mongering of the environmental activist and bumbledoms of the bureaucratic snobs. But later the State Government has realized that the malignancy has become chronic and surgery is the only option. But after all as afraid by most of the environmentalists everything the “Munnar action film” ended up in an anticlimax. Even the state High Court made a sighed on disappointment in a related judgment on behalf of the extended support to the show. Even then the credit of this ridiculous soap opera was claimed by many political personalities and parties.
The history of invasion of the European planters to Munnar (Idukki District of Kerala) starts during 1877 when Poonjar Maharaja - Kerala Verma sold out 58793 hectors (227 sq.miles) of forest land to a British planter. In 1878 Maharaja of Travancore confirmed the sale. The area was developed in the name of Kannan Theven - a tribal moopan who located and showed the area to the planters. The plantations now alias Kannan Deven Hills. The area was developed as plantations by the planters of the North Travancore Land Planting and Agricultural Society. The pioneer planters tried different crops in the area to identify the suitable crop. The Kannan Devan Hills Produce Company Limited and the Anglo-American Direct Tea Trading Company Ltd., owned 28 estates in these areas and 7 more were owned by other British and Indian Companies not belonging to this group.
During the course of time the scope of tea plantation in the area was identified and tea estates were expanded by the help of experienced tea planters from Sri Lanka. Infrastructure facilities were also developed along with the developments in plantation sector. Later M/s Tata Finlay Ltd., a company incorporated in India, purchased the Tea Estates from the pioneer planters and is running now, under the name Kannan Devan Hills Produce Company Limited.
The Kannan Devan Hills (Resumption of lands) Act, 1971 implementation in Munnar.
Kerala Government during 1971 constituted The Kannan Devan Hills (Resumption of lands) Act for the resumption of the forest land unutilized for plantation activities at the Kannan Devan Hill Villages, mainly from the possession of the Kannan Devan Hills Produce Company Limited. The Act came into force on the 21st day of January 1971 as provided in Section 1 (2) of that Act. “With effect from that date, under section 3 (1), subject to the exemption stated in Section 3(2) and 3 (3), the entire extent of lands situated in the Kannan Devan Hills Village in the Devikulam Taluk of the Idukki District shall stand transferred to and vest in the Government free from all encumbrances and the right, title and interest of the lessees and all other persons, including rights of mortgage’s and holders of encumbrances, if any in respect of such lands, shall stand extinguished”. Following this Kannan Devan Hills Produce Company Limited filed writ petition before the Supreme Court of India, challenging the validity of the K.D.H. (Resumption of Lands) Ordinance 1971. The Supreme Court of India in its judgment dated 27th April 1972, in writ petition No.44 of 1971, has upheld the validity of the Act and dismissed the writ petition.
The total area of the Kannan Devan hills village was 1,37,431.37 acres. KDHPC has alienated some areas in their possession for different government sponsored or public purposes and some land was retrieved by the Maharaja of Travancore also. The Kerala Land board during an enquiry over an application by KDHPC found that an area of 1,27,881.26 acres is there in possession of the company. These area has been classified as a)Area under Tea Crop, b)Area under fuel trees, c) Area kept for grazing of worker’s cattle, d) Area under building sites, roads, workers, garden etc., e) Area under swaps and streams f) Area under lands which are uncultivable, Rocks, slips, barren lands, ridges etc., g) Interspersed lands between the above, between estates and all around.
Categories – a and d were exempted from the vesting under section 3 (2) (a) and section 3(2) (b) respectively. Categories b and c also were permitted to keep for the industrial purpose by the Government. All other categories of land were for the vesting unless the company proved that the area is inevitable for the plantation activities.
The company filed different affidavits in front of the Kerala Land Board claiming the ownership of the land cover of the extend 64,157.92 acres only under different categories. The balance area of 63,496 acres were classified as 21,353.60 acres of wild life preservation area, 6,157.49 acres of grasslands, 22,311.00 acres of forestlands and 13,901.25 acres of interspersed lands by the Kerala Land Board. The company in this situation pleaded the board to maintain the integrity and homogeneity of their holdings as far as possible, by giving them a contiguous area which can be operated as one common unit. The Kerala land Board hearing the voice of the KDHPC finally decided to vest 70,522.12 acres of land in possession of the company as Reserve Forest and the company was permitted to hold 57,192 acres of land under the same terms subject to which they were doing it.
Since most of the vested areas were Forest or Grasslands and unfit for cultivation, the Land Board and the Expert Committee constituted to evaluate how much land from this can be given for cultivation, recommended that majority of this area is to be preserved as Forest. The Kerala Land Board and the expert committee have collectively decided to set aside 5189.00 acres, at one portion called Mankulam for revenue assignment purpose. But even thirty six years after implementing the Act proper survey of the resumed land has not been conducted. More over the forest department and the environmentalists are repeatedly complaining that the land assignments in Mankulam area is being done in the forest land.
Govt. of Kerala under the Government Order GO (MS) No. 262/77/RD dated 19th February 1977 set aside 43452.80 Acres of land as forest land (as it is) and 17922.00 Acres for afforestation. This 61,374 Acres include the 22000 acres already handed over to the Forest Department at Mankulam Forest Division. The land assigned for the afforestation work neither handed over tot the forest department nor demarcated. The land areas either are being encroached or assigned to land less people by the Revenue department. Even the encroachments are being treated as the “Revenue land Encroachments”.
The land which left unprotected due to the dereliction and willful negligence of the authorities after the resumption of forest land form KDHPC, was prone for the encroachments and it was usual in an area like Idukki District of Kerala which envisaged large scale immigration. Between 1971 and 81 the population of the district showed an increase of about 27 percent as against an increase of 19 percent for the state as a whole. After 1981 a land grabbers – revenue department – political nexus strengthened in the high-ranges. Fake and forged documents preparations and encroachments without documents with political and mafia support was burgeoned. The letter from the Idukki District Collector to the Tahsildars under him is a naked evidence for this fact and the awareness of this to the higher authorities. In his letter the District collector state that “It is observed that the Village Officers are issuing possession certificates indiscriminating. The party produces the certificate after lapse of many years to claim his rights. The corresponding records such as adverse possession, copy of application or office copy of the certificate are not seen maintained by the village offices. There are no records regarding issuance of possession certificate. There are instances in which the signatures are forged. That reflects even the seal and stamp is forged. There is also speculative encroachment in Devikulam and Peermade Taluk of this District”. The conflict in issuing the possession certificates regarding the Forest protection was well informed to the revenue officials by the Divisional Forest Officer, Munnar also through official letter. On 1st April 2004 Mr. Rajan .K. Madhekar IPS, Addl. Director General of Police (Intelligence) had send a letter vide No.G10/6454/03/SB to The District Collector, Idukki about the severity of the Encroachment of Revenue/Forest land and issuance of forged Pattayams. Again the encroachments increased day by day under delinquency of all the Goverment departments including the forest, revenue and local administration.
Mission Munnar – the - mission impossible
During January-February 2007 the news about the large-scale encroachments in the Cardamom Hill Reserve areas at Lakshmi Hills and Podamedu area. The media both visual and news papers published episodes of the bureaucrat – politician – mafia nexus supported encroachments in the high-ranges of Western Gahts. This blew up as a hot environmental issue in the state and the ministry was not able proceed the insensitivity. During the hot summer of April the state motor cades of different political leaders climbed the hills many times to visit the encroachments and the State Revenue Department Principal Secretary Ms. Nivedita Haran IAS was asked to submit a report about the issue. The ministry approved the report submitted by her and appointed Mr. Suresh Kumar IAS as the Special Officer Eviction and Mr. Rishiraj Sing IPS the Inspector General of Police for support. The special officer was asked to finish his assignments with in three months. Mr. Raju Narayana Swami was appointed as the new District Collector for Idukki.
The special Officer started his performance from Munnar town demolishing the multi storied resort buildings and soon combed the whole Munnar. He cut out the connection of the Communist Party of India (CPI) to main road since the extension of the building was found as encroachment. Right from the beginning There were strong pressure over the Chief Minister to change the team leaders who are “adamant and strict” but the Chief Minister was able to overcome all these including the strong letter of descent from the ruling party (CPI(M)) initially. The state High Court backed the move of the government strongly. But the over enthusiasm of the team, helped the land mafia to strengthen its grip. Documental ambiguities, lack of proper home work and field support, and the pressure on the team made them to commit more and more mistakes which later helped the opposition to brand everything as “mistake”. An unattended part of the KDH land was considered as land of KDHP on the way from Munnar to Marayur. This land was “recaptured” directly by Chief Minister with big media coverage. Finally Suresh Kumar IAS the team leader was withdrawn and soon of which the mission died.
Actually the commons were failed again and again. Munnar operation set fire for so many “eviction of encroachments” all over the state. Shop keepers removed their extensions of shops in to public places like roads and bus stations etc. The opposition leader donated his property to government since a part of it was alleged as encroachment, earth movers worked day and night, media brought out series of encroachment stories every day but every thing halted all of a sudden and went back to squire one soon. At the end of the day evil giggled towards the commons who was ultimately failed.
Behind the thickness of the mist the mafia is still active. The so called recovered land again has become unattended. The media climbed the hills down in search of new sensations even though still the journalists like Biju Pankaj occasionally reports new and new encroachments. Chief Minister was called as ‘terrorist’ by his own people on behalf of Munnar mission and his aspirations on second land reforms in state. But still the evil and reality are far away from these political melodramas.
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