Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

Land distributed after evicting encroachers

Staff Reporter

Illegal occupation had been on for 77 days

EVICTION DRIVE: Illegal occupants of Government land at Olikallu, near Vadasserikkara in Pathanamthitta district, being evicted on Friday.

PATHANAMTHITTA: The police and revenue officials brought down eight sheds on 4.3 hectares of Government land at Olikallu, near Vadasserikkara, on Friday, ending a 77-day illegal occupation of the property. The land was later distributed to 14 landless tribal families.

The encroachers did not resist the eviction, which was completed by afternoon, District Collector Ashok Kumar Singh said.

Eleven Malavedar families, led by the Adivasi Malavedan Maha Sabha and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) local units, encroached upon the land on February 23 night.

The Government allotted the land to other families from the same tribe during a Pattayamela at the Collectorate on February 13. They were selected from 40 applicants through draw of lots. Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran attended the mela.

The Collector said the illegal occupants had repeatedly turned down pleas to vacate the property.

A 75-member police force, led by Superintendent of Police Varghese George, had taken position on the land in the forenoon. A revenue team, headed by Additional District Magistrate B. Mohanan, surveyed the land. Mr. Mohanan handed over the title deeds, Mr. Singh said.

The police removed a small group of people, led by the Vadasserikkara grama panchayat president Thomas Varghese, who started a protest when the eviction was nearing completion. The encroachers' demand was that the land should be allotted to local Malavedar families.

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