Kerala   

Landless tribals in the lurch

No man’s land: The land allotted to 500 tribal people of Attappady at Melthottam but taken over by the Forest Department as vested forest.

ATTAPPADY (PALAKKAD): The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government during its 19 months in office has not allotted any land to the tribals of Attappady in exchange for the 410 hectares that was allotted to them at Sholayur in 1999 by the E.K. Nayanar-led ministry and taken away by the Forest Department soon after.

About 500 tribal families were given ‘pattayams’ (land deeds) by the then Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar at a mega function in Agali, Attappady, on July 9, 1999. The tribals were allotted the land in lieu of 10,000 acres that was alienated from them in Attappady.

The previous LDF government had allotted a 410-hectare tract of grassland at Melthottam in Sholayur village to the tribals. A Tea Growers Co-operative Society, headed by the District Collector, was formed to take up tea cultivation on the land and 25 acres was planted with tea.

A visit to the Melthottam land recently revealed that the tea plantation had grown wild during the last eight years.

Though the land was taken over by the Forest Department as vested forest, the previous LDF government and the United Democratic Front (UDF) government that succeeded it failed to take any steps to provide alternative land to the 500 tribal landless families.

Pappayan, a tribesman of Bhoothivazhi hamlet at Agali in the Attappady Hills, who was allotted 5 acres at Melthottam said though he was in possession of the pattayam handed over by Mr. Nayanar in 1999, he had not yet seen the land. Mr. Pappayan said when he contacted the Sholayur village office, he was told that the office did not have any records of the land at Melthottam for which ‘pattayam’ was given by the Chief Minister.

He said he was allotted five acres of land in lieu of the 10 acres of land alienated from him at Bhoothywazhi in the 1960s.

He said the tribal families had opposed the proposal to allot Melthottam land right from the beginning, as it was rocky grassland and not suited for agriculture. No water was available even for drinking purposes, let alone irrigation.

Since it is grass land nothing will grow except lemon grass and Bhoenix, used for making brooms and the strong cold wind lashes there throughout the year.

He said though the downstream area was once inhibited by tribals, they had abandoned it more than five decades ago and settled down in the valley due to the extreme weather conditions.

P.R.G. Mathur, anthropologist, said the vexed tribal land restoration issue evaded a settlement and now there were attempts to withdraw the case pending in the Supreme Court filed by Nalla Thamby Thera of Wayanad.

He said already there was a Supreme Court order to restore the alienated tribal land in the country and in some States it was implemented. But in Kerala almost all the political parties ganged up to deprive the tribals their rightful land which they were holding for generations in the forest areas.

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