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Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram, a think tank working in Kerala, has urged state Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to not give his assent to the Kerala Government Land Assessment (Amendment) Bill 2023.
The Bill is aimed at regularising the unauthorised construction and land defacement activities taking place in the ecologically sensitive Munnar area, Vichara Kendram said in a resolution adopted by its state committee meeting held on September 27. "The land area at Munnar in the Idukki district of Kerala is a part of the western ghats, which is ecologically and environmentally sensitive. The Kerala Government has passed the bill in the Kerala Legislative Assembly on September 14, 2023, which empowers the government to regularise the unauthorised construction and land defacement activities carried out in contravention of the conditions specified in the Patta assigned to the land assignees without considering the ecological importance of Munnar areaheight from sea level, earthquake, landslide occurrence possibilities, forest, and wild life protection laws," the resolution said. It said the proposed legislation seeks regularisation of unauthorised constructions made for over 50 years in order to circumvent the Kerala High Court's direction to settle land-related issues in the Munnar area. The Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram said another amendment in the bill empowers the government to issue permission to the land assignees for rock mining and resort construction in these ecologically fragile high-range lands, which may result in the total destruction of the western ghats and its flora and fauna. "This indiscriminate and unreclaimable land defacement is the main reason for the ongoing man-animal conflict. This proposed enactment may provide an advantageous situation for the owners of the unauthorised buildings demolished by the government in 2007 to claim compensation for their construction, it said. "The politically motivated intention of the ruling and the opposition parties is evident from the unanimous passing of this bill by the Legislative Assembly," it added. It said the proposed enactment is a thoughtfully crafted legislation with the ulterior intention of petty vote bank and appeasement politics pursued by the LDF and UDF for over two decades. (ANI)
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