Kerala - Kochi   

Graft accusation over land acquisition

Kochi: The former Minister and Congress leader K.K. Ramachandran, on Saturday, urged Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan to stop acquisition of 160 hectares of land for setting up an agro-food park in Wayanad and conduct an investigation into the issue.

At a press meet, Mr. Ramachandran said food park was proposed to be set up by Kinfra, which needed only 20 hectares. He alleged that Industries Minister Elamaram Karim wanted to sell the rest of the land to land dealers.

He said the former Wayanad District Collector had given a report saying that the land had valuable trees, such as rosewood and teak. Besides, it was a high-yielding coffee plantation. She had suggested alternative lands in the district. Mr. Ramachandran said even the Coffee Board Chairman had sent a letter against acquisition of the land.

The Collector was transferred as she did not give a favourable report, the former Minster alleged. Rejecting the report, the Industries Department went ahead with the land acquisition proceedings, invoking the urgency clause in the land acquisition Act.

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