Southern States - Kerala

Collector being shifted: Sudhakaran

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM APRIL 18 . The Forest Minister, K. Sudhakaran, said here on Thursday that the Idukki District Collector and some other Revenue officials ``were involved'' in the encroachment of a shola forest at the Mathikettan Shola in the district.

The Government, the Minister said, had decided to shift the Collector. The Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, had agreed to order a detailed probe after the new Collector conducts a preliminary inquiry. Steps were being taken to evict encroachers in about 3,000 hectares of the prime shola forest land. Mr. Sudhakaran said the encroachers were led by a brother of the Collector, Rejoy, and other family members. Rejoy was associated with the Geethanandan who was behind the agitation by tribals. The Revenue officials had issued false documents to the encroachers.

Mr. Sudhakaran, who had visited the area, said he could see no political support for the encroachments, though the encroachers belonged to different parties.

Denying allegations that the Revenue Minister, K. M. Mani's supporters were behind the encroachment, Mr. Sudhakaran said Mr. Mani had no links with the encroachers. The Revenue Minister had accepted his version of the developments at Mathikettan and had supported action against the officials. The Forest Department had evicted encroachers from the areas three times before and it had the support of Mr. Mani. The Minister said he had seen a rush of people to occupy land in the shola forest that lay 1,500 metres above the mean sea level. Many people had already occupied land in varying sizes and the undergrowth had been cleared.

He said the Collector had tried to mislead him saying that the area in question was barren land and discouraged his visit.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• VS demands ouster of Mani
• Collector being shifted: Sudhakaran
• Cong. men for disciplinary panel
• Keltec comes out of the red
• No end in sight to KSO woes
• NCP decides to stay put in LDF camp
• Bakht sworn in Governor
• Tribal stir to be intensified

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu