The Kerala government on Monday sought the permission of the Kerala High Court for taking advance possession of the land of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. and Elstone Tea Estates Ltd. identified for developing new townships for the Wayanad landslides survivors.
The submission was made when a petition filed by Harrisons Malayalam Limited and Elstone Tea Estates Limited challenging the State government’s decision to acquire their land for establishing the new townships came up for hearing.
Advocate General K. Gopalakrishna Kurup submitted that around 1,210 families, who were rendered homeless following the landslides, were accommodated temporarily on rented premises. The government was providing ₹6,000 a month to each family towards rent. It was a very urgent and imminent necessity to rehabilitate them permanently as part of the disaster management measures taken. Therefore, the District Collector, after considering the report of the multidisciplinary expert group, had identified the land for developing townships for rehabilitating them. The plan involved acquiring 65.41 acres from Harrison Malayalam Limited’s Nedumbala Estate and 78.73 acres from Elston Estate in Pulppara, near the Kalpetta Bypass.
No basis
The statement filed by the government said that the petitioners’ allegation that the attempt was to take over the land permanently without payment of compensation had no basis. The contention of the petitioner that the only option available to the government to take over the land was under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act was not legally sustainable.
Published – November 18, 2024 07:16 pm IST
