Encroachers make merry in Kannan Devan Hills

While writing the story 'State braces for Munnar action' posted just before this one, I called a senior officer for some background. He was not free to talk with me over the phone. Then I sought the help of google search and landed on a story I myself had written in 2004, six years ago. I was surprised the issue is the same; The Hindu had done its mite as a responsible newspaper to highlight the problem of Munnar encroachment much before it had become a controversial issue with the eviction measures taken two years ago.
This is the link to the 2004 story in The Hindu:
http://www.hindu.com/2004/01/02/stories/2004010207120400.htm

And, this is the text:

By P. Venugopal

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Jan. 1 . Pristine shola forests forming part of 17,922 acres of Revenue land in Kannan Devan Hills in Idukki district are being razed down by encroachers, according to a report sent to the Government by the Forest Department.

The report mentions five specific cases of forest encroachment, in places called Chokkanadu, Silent Valley (not the Silent Valley National Park), Kurisumotta, Chanduvarrai and Seven Malai. The extent of land encroached upon ranges between 40 acres and 400 acres. The modus operandi of the land-grabbers, as described in the report, suggests the involvement of Revenue officials and Government advocates in the operation.

The land under reference forms part of 70,522 acres of land taken by the Government from the Kannan Devan Hills (KDH) Produce Company under the KDH (Resumption of Land) Act of 1971. The Eravikulam National Park, the home of the Nilgiri Tahr, came up in the area taken over under the Act. But an extent of 17,922 acres still remains with the Revenue Department, despite a 1980 Government Order to hand over this tract also to the Forest Department for conservation. The Government had issued this order on the basis of the report of an expert committee appointed to recommend the land use pattern for the area resumed under the Act.

The area in the possession of the Revenue Department has shola-grassland vegetation with exceptionally rich biodiversity, identical to that of the Eravikulam National Park. These forests are perennial water sources for the tributaries of two major rivers, Periyar and Cauvery. The Forest Department's report to the Government describes the sholas of the area as `ecological relics'.

A study done at the behest of the Forest Department by the French Institute of Pondicherry to devise a `Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for Kerala' places this area on a par with the Eravikulam National Park, which tops the list of 14 protected areas in the State for its `high conservation value.'

Till the early 1990s, there was little threat to this tract of Revenue land, lying outside the Munnar town. But land value in Munnar skyrocketed in the recent years due to tourism boom, making land grabbing in the area extremely profitable. The purpose of the land grabbing, apparently, is to build tourism resorts.

There has been a spate of encroachments in the area during the last five years or so. The Department's report to the Government mentions only a few major ones. The report says "false possession certificates/bogus pattayas have been issued by the Revenue authorities to these encroachers."

Referring to the encroachment in Chokkanad (about 400 acres), the report says that, when the Forest Department tried to free the area, 16 persons approached the High Court and obtained an interim stay on the eviction process. "Armed with this stay, the petitioners entered the thick shola vegetation and started cutting it down. They even started making permanent constructions in the area. A counter affidavit was filed by the Forest Department and the Court modified the interim stay, directing the petitioners not to change the nature of the land...At this point of time, the shola forest has been saved from destruction with much difficulty."

In two other petitions filed before the High Court, the petitioners had produced copies of cases booked by the Revenue Department for encroachment under the Kerala Land Conservancy (KLC) Act as claims to show that they have been in possession of the land. It is a popular practice for land-grabbers to bribe the Revenue officials to get Land Conservancy (LC) cases booked against them and then use these documents to claim possession of the land.

Explaining the legal position of these cases, the report notes that the provisions of the KLC Act are not applicable to the land resumed under the KDH Act. Under the KDH Act, there is provision only for summary eviction when encroachments are noticed. "But it is quite astonishing to note that LC cases have been booked in this area by the Revenue authorities...It is also notable that the OP (Original Petition) cases filed before the High Court claiming possession over the land in question were not brought to the notice of the Forest Department either by the office of the Advocate General, or the Forest Liaison Officer in time even though the Forest Department is a respondent in these cases," the report says, indicating the possibility of an unholy nexus between the encroachers, officials and Government advocates.

The report states that the "alarming trend of encroachment of these shola forests by forging ownership records and trying to legalise the same by filing court cases" can be checked only if the Government notifies 17,922 acres of land in the possession of the Revenue Department as reserved forests.

"Once this area is notified as reserved forests, it will not be possible for anyone to claim ownership over this land and the shola-grassland forests will be preserved for posterity," the report says.

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