DEMOLITION DRIVE: Water Authority officials show encroachments near KWA pipeline to district Collector A. Ayyappan near Devaswom Board Junction in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. — Photo: S. Mahinsha

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The taluk-level Special Task Force under the Revenue Department on Wednesday evicted and took possession of 13 cents of encroached land bordering the Karamana river at Lanka near Thiruvallam.

Tahsildar Krishnakumar said the property covering two landholdings was being prepared for reclamation. The owners had erected stakes in the water prior to filling up the land. The district administration had earlier issued notice to the landowners asking them to vacate before Tuesday.

Mr. Krishnakumar said action was being taken to evict another encroachment of 40 cents into the Thoppil pond near the MG College at Paruthippara. The administration had issued notice to a private party to remove the pillars erected for construction of a house on this land. Acting on a petition filed by the landowner challenging the notice, the High Court directed the District Collector to hear the case.

The landowner again approached the Court after the Collector rejected his claim. The Court however refused to issue stay orders on the Collector's move. The Tahsildar said the 70-cent Thoppil pond had shrunk to 30 cents as a result of the encroachment. He said the formalities for eviction were being finalised.

Revenue officials on Wednesday traced encroachments totalling one acre on the pipeline road belonging to the KWA in the Devaswom Board junction-Kowdiar stretch. With this the total extent of encroachment on this 3-km-long road has become 2.5 acres. On Tuesday, revenue officials had found encroachments totalling 1.5 acres on the Vellayambalam-Devaswom board junction stretch of this pipeline road.

Mr. Krishnakumar said that 75 houses had been found built on either side of the 33-inch cast iron pipeline laid in the early 1920s. Notices will be given to the owners of all these properties/houses so that their version can be heard. Only then will any action be initiated against these people, he said.

On Wednesday, revenue officials and engineers of the Kerala Water Authority used an earthmover to dig up the compound of three houses to trace the exact alignment of the pipeline running through these properties. If the existing rule that the minimum width of the pipeline road has to be 10 metres is applied in these cases, a portion of these houses would have to be demolished.

The owner of two such houses, a retired Government official, said he has written permission from the KWA to construct the houses. "One house was built in 1965 and the other in 1990. What I was told then was that the house has to be 14 links away from the pipeline. This will translate to about 10 feet and not 10 metres as per the KWA's present stance. Then all that the KWA told me was to build gates on the sidewalls of the property to facilitate inspection by officials. I did so and even gave them a key to the locks," he told The Hindu .

Where do we go?

The implementation of the `10 metre rule' will also lead to the demolition of eight huts built on the side of the pipeline. Those living in these huts told revenue officials that they had not title deeds to the land even though they were remitting building tax. One hut even has a TC number. "We have been living here for many years now. If we are asked to leave we don't know where to go," said Santhosh who lives in one of the huts.

Threat to lives

District Collector N. Ayyappan who arrived to supervise the survey-related activities also inspected the pits dug up inside the compounds of the three houses. "Clearly there is encroachment all along the route of the pipeline. There is also the safety factor. If the pipeline bursts then these people's lives are in danger. We cannot allow that to happen. These encroachments will have to be reversed. But then there cannot be any summary eviction or demolition," he explained.

The survey will continue on Thursday.

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