Southern States - Kerala

VS demands ouster of Mani

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM APRIL 18. The Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, has demanded the ouster of K. M. Mani from the UDF Cabinet for ``assisting the forest mafia to raze down thousands of acres of prime forests in the Mathikettan Mala region of Idukki district''.

In a statement here today, Mr. Achuthanandan said there had been reports about the direct involvement of Mr. Mani's relatives in the Mathikettan Mala operation.

The Forest Minister, K. Sudhakaran, who visited the region the other day, was fully convinced about the gruesome nature of the operation. During the Cabinet meeting yesterday, he had, according to media reports, insisted that the encroachers should be immediately evicted from the region. He had also insisted that the Mathikettan Mala tracts should be handed over to the Forest Department, Mr. Achuthanandan said.

Mr. Sudhakaran himself had found the Idukki District Collector, T. J. Mathew, as the key facilitator for the land grabbers. The facts about the illegal activity should be brought out by instituting a probe by a sitting judge, after keeping Mr. Mani out of the Cabinet, Mr. Achuthanandan said.

He said the revenue authorities had laid a virtual highway through the forests for the convenience of the encroachers. This region was declared a `reserved forest' way back in 1895 by the then Travancore State. The provisions of the Forest Conservation Act were eminently applicable here and to construct a road through such a region itself was illegal.

Clearly, the Antony Government was out to foster the interests of the forest mafia and the land grabbers at the cost of conservation, Mr. Achuthanandan alleged.

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