Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Title not given for forest land near Ponmudi, says Viswom

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Forest Minister Benoy Viswom on Thursday denied the allegation made by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala that he had aided denotification of 707 acres of forest land near Ponmudi.

The Government, he said, had not given title for any forest land to anyone. Nor did it have the intention to do so. When the department noticed that trees had been cut down in forest land, a case was filed and it was pending before a Court at Punalur.

The Minister alleged that the previous Government had aided the owner of the Merchiston Estate by exempting tea estates from the purview of the Kerala Forests (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Act in 2003. When the Birla group sold the estate in 2005, the then Government had remained a spectator. Besides, transfer of registry was effected in a hasty manner.

Mr. Viswom said he had convened a meeting of the concerned on May 15 after receiving a complaint that the working of the estate and jobs of the workers had been hit by actions of the Forest Department.

The decisions taken at the meeting were intended to facilitate the day-to-day functioning of the estate and repair of workers’ lines, besides providing for their fuel needs. Though the issue of exempting the estate from notification under the Act had been raised by the estate manager at the meeting, he was told to seek remedy as per the law.

However, he had filed an application for denotification of the area to the custodian on March 30 itself. But before a final decision was taken on the application, the land was sold to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). When that came to the custodian’s notice, the custodian had sought an explanation from the ISRO. The Minister said he (the Minister) also had taken up the issue with the higher authorities of ISRO and the Chief Minister.

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