Southern States - Kerala   

Assembly panel to visit Wagamon

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Aug. 1. The Tourism Minister, K. V. Thomas, has said that the Assembly Committee on Tourism would be requested to visit Wagamon in the wake of allegations about encroachments in the area.

Replying to a submission by the Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, in the Assembly today, Mr. Thomas said there was no question of any construction being taken up in the area as the Centre had stipulated that biodiversity in the area should be preserved at all costs and there should not be even five per cent construction in the area.

Prof. Thomas said the Revenue Department had handed over 748.848 hectares of land to the Tourism Department on March 8, 2000, and that a tourism project was formally launched in the locality in March, 2001.

The then Government had contracted a Delhi-based consultancy firm, PKF Worldwide, to prepare a tourism masterplan for the area. The consultants had come up with two masterplans, one for the Wagamon property and the other for the State as a whole.

However, the Government had not gone ahead with it. All that was done in the area was erection of wire fences and refurbishing of the staff quarters of the Kerala Livestock Development Board (KLDB), which was already in existence there, he said.

Offering further clarifications, the Forest Minister, K. Sudhakaran, said out of the 11,000 hectares of land, the Forest Department had got only 4,000 hectares in its possession. The District Collector had reported as far back as in 2000 that 21 hectares had encroachments that could not be evicted. The encroachments pointed out by the Opposition Leader would have to be studied and department officials had been asked to do so.

The Government would not allow encroachment on even an inch of land at Wagamon, he said.

Earlier, Mr. Achuthanandan said the grassland in Wagamon was a repository of biodiversity. On a visit to the area, he had found that encroachments were taking place in the locality with the support of MLAs and MPs.

The Meenachil river originated from the small rivulets in the grasslands and the locality also supplied water to Periyar river. If the Government did not take urgent action, encroachers would wreak havoc in the area, he said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

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

Stories in this Section

• Panchayat chief criticises Govt. stance on Coke issue
• Govt. should ensure peaceful rehabilitation: HC
• Pancharakolli case: HC directive to Govt.
• Pakistan citizen sent back
• Assembly panel to visit Wagamon
• Quota for sportspersons in Police, Excise depts.
• Steps on to revise water pact: CM

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu